The Wrong Target
by bleak reality
Summary: A tale of a girl who does not know her place in the world, then grows up and finds it. (Added Epilogue and Author's Note)
1. The Wrong Target

NANU'S STORY – THE WRONG TARGET.  
  
(Authors Note; it's obvious I'm not making any money from this, after all, who in   
their right mind would pay me? I'm also aware this starts off like a Mary Sue, but I   
promise it gets better. There are quite a few OCs, and if you get confused (as some   
people have) leave a question on the reviews page, or e-mail me.)  
  
She sits at her desk, typing. It's late, past midnight. She's on a forum, under   
the name Nanu. It's daytime somewhere else in the world, and she's arguing with a   
guy that calls himself Noah. He made some comment, like "That's the way life goes;   
that's the real world," and now she's mad. She punches the keys as she types, fast,   
angry.  
[Noah, you can't know that for sure, this could all be a lie. Don't you ever think   
about that?]  
[No, I don't. It's enough for me to have a good life here, and do something   
worth while with it, and enjoy it. If I can do that, then it doesn't matter to me if   
it's a lie.]  
[How?!? How can you possibly be happy if you can't trust the world to be real?   
Don't you ever question? Don't you ever wonder if this isn't real? If you wonder,   
you can't be sure, and how can you be happy if you can't be sure??]  
[Look Nanu, it's simple. I don't wonder.]  
And he leaves. She snarls a curse, and closes the browser.  
***  
She's up late the next morning; she slept through her alarm. Her mother yells   
down the hall,  
"Naiomi Harper, you're late for school again! Hurry up!"  
She stumbles into her school clothes and packs two sandwiches for the day – one   
for breakfast, one for lunch. Then she throws them in her bag and heads for the   
car.  
***  
On her way to school, on the train, she notices a man sitting several seats in   
front of her. He has his head down and his back to her, and she wonders if he's   
sleeping, but he looks up sharply as she slides into the back seat. He wears a black   
trenchcoat, his hair is black, and she can see the arms of shades behind his ears.  
The train slows, approaching the next station, and he gets up. The carriage is   
almost empty. As he turns and walks closer, he looks at her, but she can't be   
completely certain of where his eyes are behind the shades. And is it her   
imagination or is his mouth tweaking in a smile?  
She looks quickly out the window.  
***  
School is not worth the telling. Work she doesn't want to do, teachers she   
doesn't want to listen to, people she doesn't want to see. Then the last bell rings   
and students flood out toward the gate.  
***  
Stepping onto the train she looks around, half hoping to see the man again. But   
he's not there. An abandoned newspaper lies on the ground; she picks it up, flicks   
pages. There! On page six, a small blurred photo of a man, black sweep of coat, a   
shaded glance over the shoulder, and the title: INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT   
UNDERWAY.  
She skims the article, but finds nothing new, only re-hashed information -   
International Terrorist Neo, most dangerous man alive, responsible for the deaths   
of hundreds of people, sighted recently in the City (that was a new place) eluded   
authorities (yet again!).  
She tears out the page and puts it in her bag, then leaves the paper on the seat.  
***  
When she gets home, she puts the article in a folder under her desk, taking a   
moment to leaf through the other ones she has collected. All have similar titles and   
information, but in almost every one the place and the death toll are different.  
She boots up her computer and checks her e-mail. Nothing from Noah, but one   
from a new name, Oen. She opens it. There is no "from" address.  
[Nanu – I noticed your "discussion" with Noah last night, it was interesting, to   
say the least. It caught my attention because Noah reminded me of a man I once   
knew. He wondered about reality, but when he found out the Truth, he began to   
resent it. After nine years, he decided he preferred to live with the lie.  
Please don't think me too forward if I say I would like to meet you, although I   
cannot really blame you.  
I cannot say where it will be, not here. I cannot say why I would like to talk to   
you, for this connection is far from secure.  
So wait, feel free to sleep in tomorrow. And catch the same train you did today.  
The answers are coming.]  
She stares at the screen. Then she hears her mother coming in the front door,   
and she pulls out her homework.  
***  
She hangs around the next morning, dallying. She cannot convince her mother   
she is not ready, and has to run for the car with a half-open bag and no lunch to   
avoid being left behind.  
When at the station, she watches two trains go by before she sees the one she   
was on yesterday. She gets in the last carriage, in the back seat. It's empty except   
for;  
Him. He is there.  
As she looks at him, he stands, turns, walks to her. He pauses in the aisle beside   
her and hands her an envelope. She takes it with a shaking hand.  
He speaks,  
"Do you know who I am Nanu?"  
She whispers, "Oen?" But he smiles and shakes his head, the movement fluid.  
"I'm actually quite the opposite," he gestures toward the envelope she still holds   
in front of her. "Read it carefully, and show it to no one. No one."  
She nods faintly, and he smiles again.  
"I'll see you around," and he leaves, stepping off onto the platform. No one gets   
into her carriage.   
***  
She looks at the envelope. It's plain, white, with a typed name – Nanu – on the   
front.  
How on earth had he found her? How had he known it was her on the train?  
She tears open the envelope, pulls out a sheet of paper, and is surprised to see   
the letter is handwritten, in green ink.  
Nanu,  
I have a place and time arranged. You will be picked up from the north east   
corner of the City Park at 2400 hours on the 25th.  
This Thursday, tomorrow night!  
Please come Nanu, this is an offer that will only be given once. If you choose not   
to meet us, then unfortunately we may never meet again, and you may even forget   
our brief encounter, but of that path I cannot see beyond the present.  
You stand at a crossroads, the first of many. Only you can decide your fate.  
PS, Enclosed is your train ticket. Don't lose it.  
And that is all. No name, no signature. She reads the letter over and over, until   
she almost misses her stop. She notices that, as she stands to leave, the carriage is   
still completely empty.  
***  
All day she chafes at every delay. She does the normal things, classes, books,   
jostling to get to her locker. But today, teachers look disturbed at her stony   
expression as they hand her homework to her, other students move aside for her in   
the corridor, and the library where she spends her lunch break is strangely quiet.   
She barely notices.  
She's sitting at a desk in the reference section, writing. Making list of crazy   
ideas and plans. How in hell can she sneak out of home at 11:00 at night, catch the   
11:09 to the City, walk to the Park through streets she barely knew, and wait until   
she was 'picked up'? The phrase makes her think if Star Trek, "Beam me up   
Scottie!" Or maybe there are aliens involved. At this point in time, nothing would   
surprise her.  
Oen. Such a strange name, like Owen, but changed. She guesses, with such   
strange spelling, it must mean something. She begins muddling the letters around on   
paper.  
Oen  
One  
Eno  
Eon  
Noe  
Neo  
She drops the pen. Neo; the "International Terrorist", the one that every   
authority in the world is searching for, the most dangerous man alive. Coincidence?   
Yeah, maybe.  
She shuts her folder and moves her books to a computer. She logs on quickly,   
opens a search engine and types in "Neo". She comes up with hundreds of articles,   
all with similar headlines to the one she found on the train yesterday. Everything   
she hears about this man is negative. He isn't always front-page news, in fact, word   
of his exploits is beginning to wear thin, and it's always the same now. But at least   
once a fortnight, something will come up. An explosion in an overseas city,   
attributed to him. A new rumour perhaps. Or something slightly different, maybe a   
breach of security somewhere, a hacking job. But all fingers are pointing to Neo.  
She opens an article, with a picture. It's of the face of a young man, in his early   
thirties at the most, with black hair spiking at odd angles and hair falling in his   
eyes. He wears a black coat, and shades that are slanted like something feline.  
She stares, her breath catching in her throat. She selects the image, prints it,   
and stuffs the paper in her folder as the bell goes for class.  
***  
She walks to the station, a breeze messing up her hair as she goes. The letter is   
in her coat pocket, and she fingers it, thinking. There must be a connection she's   
missed, Oen and Neo. Is Oen just a name? They have to be the same man; the face   
is what has convinced her. In the picture his expression had been carefully   
schooled, showing nothing; seeming hard in that narrow face. That same face had   
smiled at her that morning on the train, the same pale, flawless skin; same short   
black hair, never quite neat; same nose; same ears; same mouth. A face with more   
angles than curves; an amazing face.  
She shakes her head. These thoughts help not at all.  
Oen . . . Neo . . . Oen . . . Neo . . .  
He had asked her, "Do you know who I am Nanu?" She had given a name, and,   
what had he said? "I'm actually quite the opposite." Quite the opposite. Odd thing   
to say. Then she frowns, thinks, and smiles. Of course, how dumb is she? Oen is Neo   
backwards, opposite.  
So then, is Oen a name he uses to avoid being noticed by the authorities? Maybe.  
It is at that moment that she realises she is being watched. She glances over   
her shoulder, sees a man in a brown suit following her. There are many others on   
this street, but this suit holds no briefcase and he is looking straight at her though   
his square shades. She walks faster.  
***  
Entering the station, she is looking at her feet as she descends the stairs. She   
sees a coin. She picks it up, glances at the food joint before her, inside the station.   
It's not enough money for a doughnut or bun, but enough for an apple. She's   
hungry; she hasn't eaten at all today. She walks over, places the coin on the glass   
counter and asks for a red apple. She takes it, shining it on her coat as she climbs   
the stairs onto the platform.  
She checks her watch, dumps her bag at her feet and leans against the wall to   
wait for the train. Lifting the apple, she bites into it. It's crisp, making a snapping,   
crunching sound as she bites, and juice fills her mouth. She chews, swallows, her   
stomach contracting and burning with the reaction of acids. She looks at the apple.  
There is a worm in it. It's long, metallic grey and thick, it looks like a power cord   
or something. It's rearing, its blind head almost looking at her. From the corner of   
her eye, she can see the man in the brown suit not far away. He is just standing,   
watching. And without her wanting it to, her arm lifts the apple to her mouth, her   
jaws open and she takes another bite. Her mind is yelling No! but all she can do is   
shut her eyes as the worm slithers and curls against her tongue, and then squirms   
and writhes down her throat. She makes some small sound, and then the world goes   
quiet and still.  
***  
She wakes, it's dark, and she's in her room, on her bed. She explodes out of it,   
into the bathroom, and throws up in the toilet. There is almost nothing.  
Was it all a bad dream? If so, when did the dream begin? And the guy in the suit,   
what did he have to do with anything?  
She rinses her mouth out in the sink, splashes icy water on her face. She sees   
herself in the mirror. Long, dark hair, falling out of a braid, pale-ish skin and light   
brown eyes, almost with a yellow tinge to them. Wolf-eyes, someone had once said,   
and she cherishes the insult as if it were a compliment.  
She jumps as, suddenly, the phone rings. Her mother is not yet home, and it's   
past 7:00.  
She goes to her room and picks up the extension.  
"Hello?"  
"Nanu, we're out of time, it has to be tonight – "  
"Neo – ?"  
"You must decide now, do you still want to meet?"  
Her mind blanks; empties. "I, I think..." she hears a crack of thunder and rain   
begins to lash at her window.  
"Yes."  
"Then I'll see you soon. We'll find you as long as you get to the City, don't   
forget your ticket Nanu."  
And he hangs up.  
She looks at her watch, thinking. A train leaves for the City in about ten minutes,   
just enough time for her to get to the station. She changes her school shoes for   
boots, grabs her coat and keys and checks that the letter and ticket are still in the   
pocket. She takes a cookie from the tin on the kitchen bench, and runs out the   
door.  
***  
She arrives just in time for the train, swiping her ticket and running up the   
stairs two at a time, then leaping for the closing doors. She makes it.  
She receives some odd looks as she stands there, dripping water from her hair   
and coat, holding a damp ticket in one hand. She slides into a seat, shivering as the   
cold air conditioning chills her wet clothes. Forty-five minutes to the City.  
Forty-five minutes suddenly seems a very long time.  
***  
She's lost. It's dark, raining, cold, and she's scared. She's lost.  
She stands in a bus shelter, pulling out her ticket from her pocket for about the   
fifth time. It looks like any normal train ticket.  
CONCESSION TO CITY ONE WAY  
So why did the ticket gate spit it out with the message – HAVE A NICE DAY –   
instead of eating it like it should have?  
She puts it back in her pocket. She checks her watch, again, it's now 8:30; she's   
been wandering around for half an hour, and she still can't find the Park.  
"I should've a brought a road map or something," she mutters.  
"You sure move around a lot kid," says a voice near her. She spins around. The   
speaker is a young man, twenty or so, with white-blond hair, green eyes, and a slight   
accent she can't place.  
"I'm here to pick you up Nanu," he smiles, gestures; "the car is this way."  
"But, Neo – "  
"Don't say his name. I'm taking you to him, it's not safe for you or him if he   
comes to you directly."  
"But he has already," Nanu protests, following him now. The rain has slackened to   
a drizzle. "Twice, on the train."  
"God," the man says quietly. They turn off the main street and down an alley.   
She's not quite so scared any more. "He said Trin would do that," he continues, half   
to himself.  
"Trin?"  
"Trinity. You'll meet her. Soon."  
They continue, emerging out of the alley into a dim, narrow, back street.   
Driveways to underground carparks gape at their feet, brick walls, roller doors and   
graffiti surround them. Nanu suddenly realises she doesn't know the man's name.  
"Who are you?"  
He laughs, "Subtle aren't you? My name is Gavin."  
Suddenly he stops. An old, black sedan emerges from a carpark exit before   
them, and as it slows, Gavin opens the back door and nods to her; "Get in."  
She obeys quickly, and he follows her, slamming the door. A woman with black   
hair and blue eyes is in the front seat, with a gun. She is aiming it at Nanu.  
She stiffens as the car continues moving; another man with long red hair is   
driving. Three against one. Not fair.  
"Do you still want to go through with this Nanu?" Gavin asks her. She swallows,   
and glares at the woman's impassive face.  
"So long as she doesn't shoot me, yes. He asked me to come."  
The woman's face doesn't change, but her eyes do. They go a little colder, a   
little harder.  
Gavin takes a metal container from the floor, like a wide necked drink bottle, and   
unscrews the cap. He hands Nanu the container,  
"You have to drink this."  
"Why?"  
"You've been bugged, we have to get rid of it or they'll trace you. Drink it."  
She takes a sip, and swallows. The drink fizzes and tingles down her throat. It   
tastes bad.  
"Drink it all," says the woman.  
Defiantly, Nanu tilts back her head and skulls the drink down, swallow after   
swallow. She can feel it gurgling and bubbling in her guts.  
Suddenly, she feels something solid in her stomach. It moves, twisting, writhing,   
rasping against the bottom of her oesophagus. It begins to move up, and she gags,   
feeling like she's choking. Nanu feels hands on her shoulders, and realises Gavin is   
making her lean forward with the container in front of her mouth, and he's saying.   
"Get it out Nanu, cough it up."  
She chokes, it's almost in her mouth, then he thumps her on the back and she   
spits the worm out into the container. Gavin takes it, winds down the window and   
tips the contents out into the rainy night.  
"The old bugs were easier," muses the woman, her gaze still sharp on Nanu.  
The girl shivers. "I thought that thing wasn't real," she whispers.  
"Your perception of reality is going to be tested tonight kid," the woman replies,   
her voice as cold and as hard as her eyes. "You're going to have to show a little   
more guts than that to cope with it."  
Nanu looks away.  
***  
They pull into the loading dock of an abandoned warehouse or factory, Nanu   
can't tell which in the dark. The BUILDING CONDEMNED sign on the wall is faded and   
the paint is cracked, but the building is whole aside from several broken windows.  
Gavin and Nanu walk up the stairs and through the door first, the woman and man   
following them.  
The inside of the building is cold and empty. The roof is high, with sarking poking   
out through gaps in the steel rafters. It is so dim inside that Nanu, standing by one   
wall, cannot see the far end, and can only barely see the two armchairs in the   
middle of the room. Red leather armchairs, old, torn and stained.  
When she glances around for Gavin, Nanu sees he is gone. She is alone.  
"Nanu," she hears a voice. It's him. She looks back toward the chairs, and sees   
him standing there. A hole in the roof lets a shaft of moonlight down, faintly   
highlighting the two chairs, and the tall man in the long black coat. She walks over   
to him, her hands in her coat pockets. She still feels damp, and she's getting   
colder.  
"Neo," she says. He smiles. His eyes get a light in them when he smiles.  
"I'll have to tell Trinity that you're smarter than she thought."  
"Trinity?"  
"Yes," his voice is mesmerising, no matter his words. "She doesn't approve of you   
being here. Usually we find hackers, people who have computer skills as well as the   
questions you ask."  
"Questions?"  
"Please Nanu," he gestures to a chair. "Sit." She does so.  
"What I mean," he continues, "is your attitude to accepting the world around you.   
You question if this world, this air, these chairs, this City," he raises his hands to   
encompass everything around him, "even this darkness, you question if they are real.   
You ask, how can anyone know that this is not a dream?  
"I'm telling you now Nanu, you can't know."  
"Are you saying that this isn't real?"  
"If this world isn't real, what is it?"  
Nanu halts. She sits with her elbows on her knees, rubbing her hands together.  
"Then, we're dreaming, or something," she says slowly.  
"You've heard of virtual reality I assume?"  
"Yeah."  
"What if the whole world was one incredibly complex virtual reality game? If,   
instead of a dream, we were plugged into a virtual reality, then what would you   
say?"  
She thinks.  
"I'd want to know who was controlling it and why."  
He laughs at her blunt words; "You're a really subtle person aren't you?"  
"Subtlety subx."  
"Good point," he smiles. "But unfortunately I cannot answer those questions, not   
here."  
"Why not?"  
He continues as if he didn't hear her.  
"If you were offered a way out of this virtual world, would you take it?"  
She doesn't hesitate; "Yes."  
"Even if it meant you could never go home, never see your family or friends   
again?" he speaks softly, as if he has been through this pain. "What if the world you   
go to is cold, dark and hostile?"  
"If I knew this world wasn't real, it wouldn't matter if the truth was horrible."  
He comes around his chair, takes a silver pill case from his pocket, and sits down.   
He turns it over and over in his hands.  
"Have you ever heard of the Matrix, Nanu?"  
"Yes."  
"Do you have any idea what it is?"  
"I read an entry on a forum once, someone called The One was talking about the   
world being a computer program we were in, he called it a 'neural interactive   
simulation', and he said it was known as the Matrix. But I didn't really get what he   
meant."  
"No one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself," he   
whispers the words, half to himself. "Just as you cannot believe in the real world   
when you are dreaming; you have to wake up to learn the truth."  
Nanu sits frozen, trying to understand what he has just said. Neo opens the pill   
case, tips out two capsules, a red one and a blue one. He holds one in each hand, blue   
in the right hand, red in the left.  
"This is your ultimatum, you take the blue pill – "  
"No – " she jumps out of her chair, moving away as Neo gets up also. "You're not   
going to drug me – "  
"They're not drugs Nanu, neither one will harm you. If you want to find the truth   
you have to choose. Do you want to know or not?"  
"Adam and Eve got thrown out of Eden when they found out the truth."  
"What if Eden was a lie?" he is standing before his chair, still holding a pill in   
each hand. "If paradise was a lie, would you rather the lie or the truth, no matter   
how harsh the truth is?"  
Slowly, she moves closer, out of the shadows.  
"Which pill do I take?" she asks.  
"The blue pill will stop all this," he lifts his hand, palm up. The capsule lies still.   
"You'll wake up at home and believe, whatever you want to." He raises his left hand.  
"You take the red pill, and I show the truth, no more than that, no less."  
Nanu stands in silence for a moment, then reaches out and takes the;  
Red pill. There is no water; she swallows the pill dry. It is warm and slightly salty   
from Neo's hand.  
Neo smiles.  
"Come with me," and he leads he into the dark. They go up a flight of metal stairs   
built into the far wall, and reach a small office with a large window that overlooks   
the factory floor. Nanu can see the two chairs, a circle of light in black   
nothingness.  
Inside the office, Neo clicks the light switch, and harsh fluorescent lights   
flicker into being. The window becomes a dim mirror.  
The room is cluttered with equipment; several computers, an odd machine made   
from an old rotary phone, and jumbles of other technological things Nanu cannot   
identify. There is also a chair, like a dentist's chair, but altered.  
Gavin, the woman and the red haired man have come into the room by another   
door, and are now working. Another woman comes up to Neo, she is holding a black   
cell phone.  
"Key," he asks her, "are we on line?"  
"Just about," she answers and hands him the phone. Taking it, he gestures to the   
chair.  
"Take a seat Nanu."  
Gavin takes her coat, helps her clamber into the chair. He begins to fix ECG   
monitors to her neck, then, as she pulls up her sleeve for him to attach one to her   
left arm, he freezes. His fingers reach out, trace the circle she had drawn on her   
forearm.  
"Neo - ?" he whispers, but Neo is already there. He glances at the circle, then   
looks up at Nanu with a strange expression on his face, like he is seeing her for the   
first time.  
"Why would you draw something like that?" he asks her. The room is very still.   
"Of all things, why a . . . plug?"  
Nanu looks at the circle again, at the pattern of lines in and around it. She   
noticed before how it looked like a socket, like one in the back of a computer, but   
slightly different.  
"It's only pen," she shrugs. "I can rub it off."  
Neo looks at her again, then abruptly moves away. Gavin continues with the   
monitors, then goes to his computer, and the awkward moment has passed.  
Nanu feels very strange.  
The chair is set apart from the old tables with the computers and other   
equipment. To one side of her, the monitor wires are plugged into a box with meters   
and screens, the woman, Key, stands over it. Neo is by the phone-machine thing. He   
dials a number, then sets the receiver on a stand. He looks thinner somehow, then   
Nanu sees his trenchcoat is gone. It is dumped in a pile near her chair.  
She looks at it closely, it almost starts to move. Her eyes go wide, her breath   
stops, it is moving! She makes a sound, and Gavin looks up from behind his computer,   
seeming worried.  
Something begins to writhe out of the coat sleeve, something long and black; a   
snake!  
Nanu jerks, trying to get out of the chair, but she's strapped in, at her waist,   
ankles and wrists. Why hadn't she noticed that?  
The snake hisses, a long, pale, forked tongue flicking out of its mouth and in   
again almost too fast to see. It raises it's head, it weaves back and forth, hypnotic,   
mesmerising.  
Neo's voice cuts through to her, "Why are you so certain that this is real Nanu?   
How can you know anything for certain?"  
But she hardly hears him; she's struggling, straining against the buckles that   
hold her down. She closes her eyes and her head tips back as the snake coils around   
her leg. Then there is another touch on her hand and her eyes open; another snake!   
More, too many, all over. Their touch is cold, icy; it numbs her skin.  
Dimly, she can hear voices, orders being given, and she cries out as the snakes, a   
snake, a long black cable, rears back and strikes and she feels a burning cold pain in   
the back of her head.  
***  
Sluggish, warm, red. She can see, but not clearly. Her hands move, weakly,   
pushing against a membrane above her that stretches then bursts. Coming up, a   
vague sensation of dizziness, then she's ripping out the tube that reached down her   
throat and she's gagging and she's covered in slime and she's cold.  
She can see around her now, it's dark. Walls of black dotted with red spots. All   
the same, all pods. They seem to go on into oblivion.  
Her mind is reeling and she wants to scream, "Not people not minds not souls!"   
but she has no voice.  
A machine flies up out of nowhere before her. It has no face and too many arms.   
Claws grab her neck, another arm screws the plug out of the back of her head, then   
the machine lets go and cables pop out of her like black snakes and she knows she   
has no use any more.  
The she's sliding down a pipe and into a river and she's floundering, then she   
sees a light above. She's scooped out of the water by another claw, and then it's   
light all around her.  
Rough blanket, cool air, faces, so many faces, and only one stands out. A man,   
with short black hair, pale skin, dark eyes.  
"Welcome, to the Real world."  
Neo . . .  
***  
She can hear voices above her, a woman, and a man. Slowly she remembers their   
owners; the blue-eyed woman, and Neo.  
"I know you don't approve – " Neo is saying.  
"Since when did you ever need my approval to do anything?"  
"That's not what I meant, that's not the point – "  
"What the point is Neo, is that she doesn't belong here, she knows nothing about   
computers, she was into fantasy chat rooms for God's sake, she's no hacker – "  
"Okay, she's no hacker, I know that. She couldn't hope to hack the Pentagon or   
the goddamn IRS d-base, but could you at sixteen?"  
"I was seventeen when I cracked it but that's not what I'm talking about. Why   
didn't you wait until she was older, twenty even, maybe she would have been   
something then."  
"Trinity, you don't understand – "  
"Understand? Neo she's a liability to us!"  
"Please," his voice is not loud, but it's strong, angry and asking the woman,   
Trinity, to listen. "Please, let me explain, let me try to explain."  
There is a rustle of cloth and Nanu guesses Trinity has folded her arms.  
"Go ahead. Enlighten me."  
"She," he pauses, collects words. "She has a mind, she has a mind like you've   
never seen, Trinity. She understands the concept of the Matrix already I'm sure.   
When she's in there Trin, her coding, it's, it's like nothing I've ever seen. You   
don't know what that's like, to find something new in a world where you know what   
everyone is doing, not just in one place but everywhere. Every time a person dies, I   
know how they died, every time a child is born I know what their name is. Nanu I   
had, have, never seen before."  
"Surely everyone's coding looks different?" her voice is softer now.  
"Well, to an extent yes, but there are parts that are similar, like I can tell if   
someone will consider the red pill, or if someone just needs a hint to begin   
wondering about the truth. Some people don't ever want to wake up. I can see that   
part of their character in their coding. And other parts, like if they're open and   
welcoming to other people, or mean, or outgoing, or shy, sometimes I can tell that   
too."  
"And what did you see in her?"  
"She questions. Questions everything."  
"Everyone questions, every Jack has questions."  
Nanu has to consciously keep her eyes shut; she doesn't want to interrupt this.  
"Not like her. Not any I have ever seen. It's like she's always asking about   
everything, looking for answers. She wants to know things."  
"I still don't see what's different."  
"I had to unplug her, to save her. She would have been destroyed."  
"Why? She's only a kid."  
"I was only a computer nerd."  
"You were the One."  
"Not then I wasn't"  
"But – "  
"I wasn't ever the One in that life."  
"I'm not getting you."  
"I died Trin, remember? You were there."  
There is a brief silence. Nanu listens – how could someone die? Is he talking   
metaphorically or what?  
"Everything the Oracle told me was true. She told me, indirectly, that I wasn't   
the One, and she said I was waiting for my next life. The second time round I was   
the One."  
More silence and more questions rise in Nanu's mind. Who is the Oracle? Neo   
speaks again.  
"But we still haven't resolved Nanu."  
"Are you saying she will be something, like you weren't the One when we   
unplugged you but you are now?"  
"I honestly don't know. But she's not like anyone else, I do know that. And I   
know the AI were watching her. They couldn't have known she's been contacted but   
they bugged her anyway."  
"Couldn't they have followed Gavin on the train?"  
"Uh," he hesitates. "I contacted her, not Gavin. The e-mail and the train."  
There is cold quiet. Then light footsteps leaving quickly. Nanu opens her eyes and   
sees Neo watching her.  
"You heard all that?" he looks sad.  
"Yeah," her voice is rough. "She's angry because you lied to her about the train?"  
He looks mildly surprised, then nods.  
"I've been in that pod for sixteen years haven't I?" she tries to distract him,   
she doesn't want him thinking about Trin and then feeling bad. Again, he looks   
surprised, and asks her;  
"Don't your eyes hurt?"  
"Yes they do, and my throat, and my muscles feel all numb and not quite there.   
But if you tell me I have been in a pod all my life, then I'll know why everything else   
is weird."  
"Yes you have."  
"And somehow I was also in the Matrix, right?"  
"Your mind was, yes."  
"How didn't I know about the pod me, how didn't my mind know about my body?"  
"The plug in the back of your head," he comes closer, looking down to where   
she's lying on her back with a blanket over her. "It feeds the information of the   
Matrix directly into your central nervous system, so it overrides what your real   
nerves are trying to tell your brain."  
"And all the other people in those other pods, they're the same? Still in the   
Matrix?" She looks up at him. He has brown eyes.  
"Yes."  
Nanu shuts her eyes, breathes out. She hears him step away, and she says,   
"Don't go – ", but Neo is already gone.  
Eventually she falls asleep. 


	2. Awake

Nanu's Story – Awake.

***Nanu***

She wakes up on a bed. She's cold, and the bed is hard. Nanu lies still for a moment, breathing in the scent and the taste of the air. It tastes like metal, cold.

She opens her eyes. Dim light. Metal ceiling, metal walls and, she turns her head, metal floor. She sits up; swing her legs over the edge of the narrow bunk and puts her booted feet down. There is a tug at the skin of her left forearm, and she looks at the IV drip in her skin. Plugged into her. She pulls it out, slowly, it hurts. The socket, it's familiar. She remembers an image in black pen, drawing it on at school in a boring class and then feeling, momentarily, that it was more real than every other thing she had ever known.

Her clothes are hand-me-downs, homemade, torn and faded. The boots were once someone else's, they are scuffed, scratched and worn.

She lifts a hand to her head, and is not surprised to find only a fuzz of hair. Her fingers continue to the back of her head, and she traces the shape of the plug, like the one in her arm, but bigger.

Nanu remembers other plugs, and feels through the thin material of her shirt; another on her right forearm, the upper part of each arm, her shoulder blades, down her spine, near her collarbone, her stomach; she knows they are everywhere, and they won't ever go away.

She stands, and reaches for the wheel on the door to open it. But it's turning already. The door opens, and Neo stands on the threshold, holding a folded blanket and a cap-hat thing.

"I should have known you'd be up already."

"How long have I been out of it?"

"Days," he shakes his head. "You ask the strangest questions."

"I feel like I've done some of this before, or, something. Some things make sense to be, others don't."

"What makes sense to you?"

"This," she pulls up her sleeve, shows him the plug. "Why you were scared when you saw my drawing of this. That you have them too, and everyone else who has been plugged into the Matrix. That there are people without them, people who have never been in the Matrix. That there have always been people outside, otherwise how did the first of us get out?" She stops, his face has an odd expression. He is surprised, confused and a little fearful.

"I was about to offer to show you what the Matrix is, but I don't know if you already know that too."

"You've told me already, it's a neural interactive simulation, people are plugged into it, and only the people outside know about it."

He looks at her, not saying anything.

"On the forum, remember that?"

"Yes I remember," he exhales. "It's just been a while since I wrote it. But I'd better take you up to the Main Deck, so you meet the crew," he smiles faintly and then gives her the cap. "It was mine, but it's yours now."

Nanu pulls it over her head; it's warm from his hands.

***

She climbs up a ladder through a hole in the floor. Everything everywhere is metal, or cables covered in tough plastic-y stuff. The Main Deck is amazing, like an unorganised mechanic's workshop crossed with the inside of a computer. Six, no, seven chairs, like re-made dentist chars with torn and patched seats, are set up in a circle, the feet of the chairs inwards toward a pillar that goes from ceiling to floor and beyond.

"This is the Core, where we broadcast our pirate signal and hack into the Matrix," Neo says the words like he's quoting someone.

There is a, desk?, at the gap in the circle of chairs; a set up with lots of screens mounted on a metal frame, several keyboards on movable arms, and a swivelling chair bolted to the floor.

"You've already met most of the crew," Neo gestures. "Trinity," the blue eyed woman doesn't look at her.

"Gavin," he smiles at Nanu.

"Key," is the woman with the phone, she has brown hair only just long enough to tie back.

"And Tod," is the red haired man, who looks taller and has shorter hair in real life.

"The ones you haven't yet met, are Tank," a guy with curly hair and thick muscles smiles briefly. "And Achi," she has dark hair in dred-locks, and she's a little smaller than Tank.

Neo comes up to the girl. "Time to find out the Truth Nanu, or at least what you don't already know of it." She can see Trinity in the corner; her face is impassive.

"Gavin – " Neo says, and the blond guy comes forward, takes the blanket from around Nanu's shoulders and helps her into chair three. She puts her head back on the rest, feeling cool air on the nape of her neck that the cap doesn't cover. Gavin locks her feet down to the chair, and she curls her fingers around the grips on the armrests. The chair hisses as Gavin pulls a lever and it tilts back, is raised higher. She breathes deeply. This isn't going to hurt; it will just feel –

"This is going to feel weird Nanu. Don't be scared."

She smiles up at Neo, "You know I'm not."

Then white noise fills her head. Her eyes shut then open and everything is silent and white. And Nanu knows she has definitely been here before.

She turns around, looking at the blinding emptiness. Neo has come in after her; he stands like a dark shadow in the space.

"This, is the Construct."

"A computer program right?"

"Yes. We can load everything we need in here, weapons, equipment; all that kind of thing."

"This works the same way as the Matrix? Into my brain?"

"Yes." He shakes his head, hands in his coat pockets. "What don't you know about the Matrix?"

"Who is controlling it and why they're doing it. And what it means to be the One."

"Easiest to show," Neo says, "but as for the second part I barely know myself. Turn around Nanu."

She does so. Behind her are the two red leather armchairs and a small TV. Neo picks up the remote from one chair and clicks a button. The screen snaps on.

Nanu sees her city, the skyline, the bridge, subways, roads. People, minds, souls.

"That is the world you knew," Neo speaks carefully, looking hard at the screen. "The world as it was at the beginning of the 21st century."

He clicks the remote again, and the image changes, then is suddenly all around them. Nanu glances around, is this the Real world? She sees a ruined city skyline on the horizon; the whole world is grey and black. Roiling clouds in the sky cast a gloom over the ground. She and Neo are in a hollow in the scarred and rocky slope, and the world is still silent.

But no – it's not real. They're still in the Construct; they've loaded something else.

"Is this what it looks like outside the ship?"

"On the surface, yes."

"So," she leans on the back of the chair. "Who made the Matrix?"

"The AI."

"AI? You mean Artificial Intelligence?"

"Yes. We don't know much, but we know that we created AI near the end of the 20th or early in the 21st century."

"But isn't that now?"

"No, it's actually closer to 2202 than 2002 as you think it is. The Matrix is set on a time loop every twenty or so years."

"So did the AI rebel or something? How, why?"

"We don't know that Nanu, I'm sorry. It's cruel that we cannot answer what you ask, but we just don't know enough."

"Do you know what the AI made the Matrix for?"

"Yes. But before the Matrix, there was a war. At the time the machines, the AI, they needed solar power to survive. Mankind struck what was thought to be a crucial blow; they scorched the sky.

"What was done, we do not exactly know, but the effect was that of a nuclear winter."

"Or when a huge volcano erupts, and the ash fills up the sky."

"Yes, that's right. Only it has lasted for almost 150 years."

"What did the machines do for power?"

"The Matrix. Where you woke up, we call that a power plant."

Nanu frowns.

"The human body generates more bioelectricity than a 120-volt battery, and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines had found all the energy they would ever need."

The TV is flickering through images of towers, pods, people. Then it changes, and Nanu sees fields.

She moves around the chair slowly, sits down with her hands clasped. She stares at the screen.

"We are no longer born then," she whispers. "We are grown."

"Yes."

"And the machines use humans for power, like batteries."

"Yes."

Nanu shuts her eyes.

"So as long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free."

Silence, she opens her eyes and the Construct is white again. He is looking at her. There are tears in her eyes.

"Can I get out now Neo?"

***

The crew are standing around her as she opens her eyes, looking like they are waiting for something to happen, waiting for her to do, what?

She doesn't move. She can see Gavin looking confused beside her and Achi on her other side. Then she hears Neo speak – 

"Let her down Gavin."

The seat hisses again as it is lowered to its normal position. Gavin pulls the plug gently from her head, and Nanu sits up. He undoes the locks on her feet then steps back. She glances around. She feels very conscious of her tears, and she tries to wipe them away. Looking up, she sees Trinity watching, and she feels worse. Now she's too young, not a hacker, and a crybaby.

Then Neo's hand is on her shoulder and he's helping her down from the chair. He takes her back to her cabin and pauses in the doorway.

"Rest Nanu," he says softly. "Try to sleep, and if you can't, come up to the "Deck and Tank will keep an eye on you."

She nods, and then he shuts the door and leaves her alone with her thoughts.

***Trinity***

"You can't tell me that didn't mean anything Trin."

"So she didn't panic and throw up, big deal."

"Read the recordings, just do that and if you still think she's nothing out of the ordinary, then nothing will change your mind. Just do that and I won't say anything else."

"Alright, alright, go away and I'll read the damn recordings!"

Neo leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Trin flops on the narrow mattress, throwing her arm over her head, covering her eyes. She lies still a moment, breathing slowly. When she is calmer she sits up. Neo will take her duties for the rest of the day, giving her time to read what he wants her to read. It's not fair to not do as he asks.

She takes a small gadget, a reader, from the drawer in the base of the bunk, slides in the disk Neo left. It's a recording of the coding of his discussion with the girl, when she was offered the pills. He has decoded the dialogue code for Trin, she could have done it herself, but she may have made a mistake, and it would be time consuming. Neo is very fast with decryption.

Trin reads the conversation quickly. Then again, slower. There is nothing astounding, the girl made no incredible leaps of insight, and overall she sounds a little slow off the mark. But there is something in her attitude; she accepted the idea of a virtual reality very quickly. And her questions, she had not asked how it was possible, or even for an instant rejected the idea, but said she had wanted to know who was in control.

And she _had_ worked out the Oen/Neo thing. Not that it was rocket science, but it showed she could think.

Trinity frowns and reads the beginning of the transcript again. She hadn't been the slightest bit afraid of Neo either. Odd. Sixteen and gullible to Matrix propaganda, she should have been terrified.

Trin removes the disk and enters the second one. It's the code of the Neo's revelations in the Construct. She has to sift through irrelevant code, like the description of the landscape, to get to the decoded, by Neo, talking. He has done this quickly, it's obviously very important to him that Trin get the words exactly right.

She reads through it, noting, in the extra coding, Nanu's lack of surprise at the Construct, the loading of the armchairs, then the revelations of the power plant and foetus fields. She had become upset, but upset for the people still trapped inside.

Whenever someone is shown the truth, they invariably reject it. Neo had done so more violently than most, passing out for hours. Nanu had been calm, in tears, but calm. Very odd.

Someone knocks at the door, five short taps. The way Neo always knocks.

"Come in," Trin says, and the door opens slowly.

Nanu stands there, looking awkward. Trinity looks at her.

"Sorry, I was trying to find Neo," Nanu begins to close the door.

"He should be up on the bridge, but why?" the last part slips out without her meaning it to.

"I . . ." Nanu pauses. "I just wanted to know where he was."

Trin frowns. "Did you want to ask him something?"

"No, I don't think so." Nanu stands still, with her hand on the doorframe, just looking at her feet. Trinity is disturbed by her calm attitude.

"You could be angry, or something," she says, almost accusingly. The girl looks up.

"Why should I be angry?"

"You've just find out your entire life was a lie, that you were nothing but a battery, that every person you have ever known is still lying in a pod in a power plant."

"Then if I'm angry, I should be angry for them, not me. I should be happy, now I'm out."

"So what are you? Not anything at all?"

"Numb. Just numb and useless."

"Useless?" Trinity asks, although she can guess at the answer. "Why?"

Nanu spreads her hands and shrugs. "I know nothing. About anything. Everything on this ship depends on computers or engineering or something with technology. I can't do any of that."

"You'll learn," Trin finds herself saying. "No matter what we know in the Matrix, it doesn't really apply here. Being a hacker or something helps, but it's only ever background knowledge."

"No IRS bases here right?"

Trinity stiffens, "How do you know that?"

"In the lab, when you and Neo were, uh, talking. I was awake."

"Oh."

"Please don't be mad at him for unplugging me. He looks so upset when you won't talk to him."

Trinity stays very still. After a pause, Nanu steps beyond the threshold, into the room.

"I know you think I'm a liability," she says very quietly. "I know you don't like me because you're afraid. You're afraid I'm a danger to the crew and to Neo. I don't know why Neo thinks I'm special and I don't know why he unplugged me.

"But I do know I don't want you to hate me. I don't know what I have to do to pass your test or whatever, but I will do the best I can to pass it regardless."

The sixteen-year-old girl stares at Trinity, the cap on her head slipping to one side because it's too big, her light brown eyes large in a pale, thin face. Her mouth is set in a hard, straight line.

Trinity drops her gaze. Staring at the reader, she hears the door close quietly. And again, she reads the words; 'Can I get out now Neo?'

***Neo***

Neo opens the door. Empty. Nanu's room is empty. Tank hasn't seen her, she isn't on 'Deck, on the bridge, or talking to anyone he had spoken to. But he not yet asked Trinity.

He goes down the hall, knocks on the door of the room they shared.

"Come in," he hears her say. Neo opens the door, steps in.

"Have you – ?" he breaks off as her sees her damp eyes. She's sitting on the bed, cross-legged, holding the reader before her like a prayer book.

"What is it?" he shuts the door and moves closer, going down on his knee before her.

"What were you going to say?" Trin lifts her chin, eyes freezing over again.

"I can't find Nanu, have you seen her at all?"

"She came in here about ten minutes ago, looking for you." She holds up the screen. "Interesting reading. She's certainly odd."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She wasn't at all phased by the Construct. I can remember being freaked out by that alone. And she seemed to know so much already."

"Did you notice anything else?"

"Only that she's too damn intuitive for her own good. And she's a mix of innocent and all-knowing all together," Trin looks hard at Neo. "She's weird."

"What exactly did she say to you when she came here?"

"That I shouldn't be mad at you because 'you look so upset' when I won't talk to you."

Neo goes still. She tilts her head back, laughs faintly.

"It should be funny."

He stays quiet. Is he that obvious?

"And now you don't know where she is?" Trin asks, business again.

"No idea, no one but you has seen her since she went to her room."

"Did you check the galley? She may be hungry."

"She doesn't know where that is."

Trin raises her eyebrows. "I wouldn't presume to guess what she does or doesn't know, not if I were you."

"The galley then," he gets up, steps back. "Thanks."

And then he goes again.

***

Nanu is sitting on the table, cradling a tin mug in her hands; an empty bowl set to one side. She doesn't acknowledge Neo as he enters, just continues to swing one foot like a pendulum as she frowns at nothing.

"Nanu?"

"Yes?" she focuses on him, expectant.

Neo suddenly has no idea what to say. After a pause he motions to her bowl.

"How did you like the goop?"

"My stomach's not empty any more, that's the main thing."

"How did you know where the galley was?"

She shrugs – 

"It's not a very big ship."

"What have you seen so far?"

She puts down the cup, stretches a little. "All of it I think. Except the bridge. And I think I woke Gavin up by accident, he was in his room with the lights out."

"He's on sentinel watch tonight. But you might already know about that."

"Now that you mention sentinels," she frowns, "I, remember . . . something . . . " she trails off, clenching her hands together.

"Squiddy – " she looks up. "A killing machine designed for one thing; search and destroy." Her eyes look at Neo but she doesn't seem to see him. "And the ship is so cold when the power is offline . . . " she whispers, barely making a sound.

"Nanu?" he moves forward, raises his hand, and touches her cheek. It's cold, very cold. "Nanu, wake up, come back," he whispers, not wanting to scare or startle her. Slowly, her breathing begins to return to normal, becoming shallower, and her eyes come back to reality. Neo sees colour return to her face, and very gradually her skin warms.

She blinks, and her eyes move, connect with his. She frowns, and he moves back.

"What happened just then?" he asks her. He remembers the words she spoke; he'd heard them himself an age ago. "You went blank for a moment, what was it?"

"I," Nanu looks down, "I don't think I know." She seems about to speak again but Tod comes into the room and she stays silent.

Tod glances at them, hesitates at the scene they make, Nanu sitting on the table, Neo only a step away.

But, without a word, Nanu slides off the table, and without a glance at either man, leaves.

Neo stands a moment looking at the floor, and then he exits the galley through a different door.

Tod stands still, wondering.

***


	3. The Questions Begin

Nanu's Story – The Questions Begin.

***Nanu***

She's curled up in a ball, hugging her knees. It's very cold and very dark. Her breathing seems loud.

What happened today? She doesn't know.

***

When Neo left her in her room, Nanu had sat on her bed for what seemed like hours, staring at the wall. Thinking. Coming to terms with what the Matrix was. And wondering what in hell she was supposed to do next.

Such a cliched line – why me? But very relevant, Nanu thought. She had nothing to offer the crew. Nothing. Trinity was right, she was a liability.

And why did Neo put so much faith in her? Why did he argue with Trinity over Nanu, who was nothing at all? Nothing at all.

But, then again, how had she known about the Matrix? She had read the entry on the forum.

How had she known that was Neo? He had said, or Trin had said, that he was 'the One'.

It had been an educated guess really, that had turned out to be right.

The tangled logic made no sense. Nanu was very confused; part of her had no idea what was going on, another part felt like all this was perfectly normal.

And another part was finding these new experiences all too familiar.

Some things she didn't know, or she had forgotten. Finding out about the AI, the machines, and the power plant, had not been so much a revelation as it had been a reminder. She had known it already, the knowledge buried in the back of her mind. But how had it gotten there? And why hadn't it come out before?

Being alone had been too loud with thought, and Nanu couldn't sit doing nothing any more. She had gotten up, opened her door, and begun exploring. She had felt a vague need to know where Neo was, just to know what he was doing, as well as the rest of the crew. She wanted to know what was happening on the ship.

So she had gone down the hall, treading softly, listening at the thick metal doors for sounds within. All were empty but two, regular breathing from one, raised voices from the other; Neo and Trinity. Nanu had listened briefly, then ducked into the next room when Neo came out.

It was Gavin's room. He was lying on his bunk, dozing. When she entered he rolled over a little, raising his head sleepily.

"What – ?"

"Shh, go back to sleep Gavin." And she'd snuck out again as soon as Neo was gone.

The ship was like an intriguing maze, like climbing through the innards of a mechanical insect. Ladders, stairs, split floors, platforms with railings just waiting to be climbed over; changing levels was like being on an adventure playground or jungle gym. All it needed was a swing set.

In her old life, Nanu had not been an active person, because that meant being on a team of some sort, and that meant interaction with people. People who made no effort to like her, people who gave her funny looks because she wore the same jeans and coat to school everyday, because she didn't wear make up or read magazines.

So Nanu had avoided people.

Now in the real world, she was amazed at what she could do. Her reconstructed muscles were flat, hard and strong. She could do chin-ups with one hand, stretch like she never could before; she felt so alive now.

But there was one skill Nanu had in both worlds; silence. She could move like a ghost. It was harder with boots on a steel floor, but in her explorations, Nanu had been a shadow, going where she pleased about the ship with not even Tank at the desk knowing what she was about. It was so much fun.

She had seen Tod; oiling and triple-checking the jack-in chairs, Achi; stocktaking their powdered food and water supplies, Key; cleaning instruments in the infirmary, and Gavin; still asleep.

Which had left Trinity and Neo.

Trin was in her room.

It was during that conversation that Nanu had caught a hint of something in her head. Nothing intrusive, just a sense of receiving information from somewhere outside herself. It was the most peculiar feeling.

Suddenly she had known what Trin thought of her, that she was afraid, wary, distrustful, and worried, mostly about Neo. Nanu had the feeling that she never gave anything away, ever, and Trin's face certainly gave no hint of what she was thinking.

Which was why she had been shocked when Nanu had said, "I know you don't like me because you're afraid. You're afraid I'm a danger to the crew and to Neo." Such a statement could be deduced, it was obvious why Trin did not like Nanu, but for the girl to add in 'afraid' was what had stilled Trinity's breath for an instant. Surprise had registered, and Nanu had heard it. It had seemed that she could read Trinity's mind.

Which scared Nanu senseless.

She had left. Quickly.

For lack of anything else to do, she returned to the galley, and poured a bowl of goop. She tried to ignore how natural the action was, holding the bowl under the dispenser and pulling the lever, gently, so it did not splash or spill anywhere. She had known where the spork drawer was, where the water canister was, where the mugs were stored. How? Nanu didn't particularly want to know that.

She'd sat on the table, thinking, as she ate. A brief regret went through her for not appreciating flavour-bearing food while she had it, although it was just code. She missed the taste of processed cheese, the silky texture of a milkshake, the dry stringy feel of over-cooked meat.

Goop was like cereal or oatmeal with way too much watery milk, and had no taste.

But halfway through the bowl, she had stopped minding.

Trin had said Neo was on the bridge, and Nanu had known, once she was told, that he _was_ on the bridge, looking through the front window of the cockpit, flying the ship through a labyrinth of tunnels and sewers.

But he wasn't any more, he was looking for Nanu. That part of her mind that had heard Trin was now hearing Neo. He was talking to . . . _who?_

Tank. Asking him if he'd seen her. There was an annoyed and worried feeling when Tank said no. Then . . . asking Tod, although he was also on the 'Deck. More worry at his answer.

Not fear or anything, just wanting to find Nanu, with a vague need to ask, something . . .

Nanu listened as Neo found Key, then as he checked out the storeroom and spoke to Achi.

Then he went to Trin. Nanu concentrated, and the words became clearer, understandable. She no longer saw the galley wall in front of her. She seemed to be standing in Trinity and_ Neo's cabin, watching as they talked. The images and sounds she received from both of them blurred together, and Nanu saw the scene like a hidden camera, building her own vision and no longer looking solely through Neo's eyes._

When Neo left for the galley, Nanu began to come, slowly, back to herself. A part of her subconscious knew Neo was _coming down the hall, watching his feet_, but her conscious was analysing Trin's words, "Too damn intuitive for her own good," did Trin guess what Nanu had done?

"Nanu?" She looked up – Neo.

"Yes?"

The feelings came back, Nanu opened up the block between her mind and Neo's. He was confused, not knowing what to say or do. Feeling awkward was rare for him.

He talked about nothing much, then he mentioned sentinels. Thoughts occurred to him; the first time he had seen a Squiddy. And memories welled up from the depths of Nanu's mind, memories that weren't hers and weren't Neo's, and she knew they were the same as the memories of the Matrix.

Nanu was scared, she didn't know where these things were coming from, and she could see, as if through someone else's eyes, _a Squiddy rearing over a ship, staring with red eyes into the darkened cockpit, arms and claws coming up, then dropping, and then the Squiddy sweeping away down the tunnel from whence it came_.

The vision cleared, and Nanu could feel Neo's hand on her cheek, and see him looking at her closely, he was so close she could almost smell him.

She frowned, and he straightened and moved back. He was worried _for_ her now, and afraid _of_ her at the same time. He asked her what happened, and she wanted to explain, but Tod came in and the moment was lost.

Nanu left, and she felt Neo leave in a different direction a moment later. She blocked him out of her head then, not wanting to intrude again. And then she hid in her room, curled up in the dark with her eyes shut.

***

Nanu can't sleep. She lies perfectly still, listening as hard as she can, trying to hear where Neo is now. Things seep into her head, she catches a glimpse, emotion, then she slams the block back in place. Neo is alone, crying. Nanu regrets seeing that, it's not right for her to spy on him.

She listens for someone else. Nothing.

How did she hear Neo and Trinity before? They were near her. But Neo wasn't just then; he was in the armoury. But, she was thinking of him.

Nanu stares into the darkness. It's late at night; most everyone is in their respective cabins . . . except Gavin. He's on sentinel watch.

With that thought, reality begins to slide away, and Nanu _feels colder. She feels tense, waiting, and a bit bored at the same time. Vision swims into focus before her eyes. She sees the controls of the bridge, screens, buttons, and read-outs flickering on all sides_.

But she wants to see it for real.

Nanu sneaks out of her cabin, her blanket around her shoulders for warmth. She climbs up through the Main Deck, down a short corridor and through a doorway. Gavin sits alone, also with a blanket around him, with his feet on the chair and his knees up to his chin. Nanu can feel him dozing off.

"Gavin."

He jumps at her voice, swears in surprise, "Nanu! Damn you, don't do that!"

She just smiles at his shock. He stares at her, baffled by her reaction, her expression, her presence there.

She comes forward, climbs into the left-hand chair, and draws her knees up.

"Sorry, I . . . " he's trying to apologise for yelling. "You scared me, that's all."

She smiles and makes an 'It's okay' face. Gavin looks out the window again, scanning the murky surrounds for movement. After a pause, he asks;

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on me like that."

"I wasn't sneaking."

"You were pretty damn quiet anyway. But how did you move so silently? Boots on a steel floor should make some noise."

Nanu shrugs, "I don't know, I guess I just walk light. I never thought about it really."

He looks away, a smile.

"You're so much like Trin."

"How?"

"If you don't want someone to know something, they don't. She's like that."

"Trinity is different from me," Nanu speaks quietly, looking into the dark. "She's got this wall around her, because she had a hard life before she was unplugged. I just act."

The air is suddenly tense; Gavin is staring at her.

"How do you know that?"

"Know what?" But Nanu already knows what he's going to say. Fear floods into his mind, she recoils from it.

"How do you know what Trinity's life was like?"

"I don't, exactly. I mean, she _must_ have had bad things happen to her to make her so closed off from everyone. I just guessed."

Gavin sits back, hugs his knees tighter. But he's suspicious now. He's not afraid, just wary and closing off.

"Gavin, don't you build a wall too."

He jumps, "What?"

"I want to talk to you. You're the first unplugged person – "

"We're called Jacks."

"Well, the first Jack, that I ever met."

"You met Neo first."

"Neo doesn't count. He's, well . . . Neo is Neo. It's like he's never not been like he is now."

The wording of what she said reminds her of something else, and she asks Gavin – 

"Neo said that he died. How can that be true?"

"You'll be told eventually."

"I'd rather be told now."

"Have you heard anything about the One?"

"I heard Neo is, but that's all."

Gavin pulls the blanket around his shoulders, settles in his chair, and begins.

"When the Matrix was still new there was a man born inside, the name he was given was Kenneth Jackson, and the name he chose was Raven.

"He was the One, the first One. Even before he left the Matrix, he knew what it was, and he could change it. He couldn't be killed.

"He contacted Zion through a net connection, a chat room or something. He tried to hack into their mainframe through the net, ironic, is it not?" he smiles slightly, looking out the window.

"When he got unplugged, he immediately began trying to get out others. He chose young people, _never_ over twenty-five and usually in their teens, people who showed promise of skills that would aid Zion, and help free more minds from the lies of the Matrix.

"For about thirty years, he fought the war. Led the war. Then he died.

"It was an EMP blast from another ship. A power loss while someone is jacked into the Matrix is the same as pulling his or her plug. Their mind separates from the body, the body dies." Gavin frowns. "Usually the mind dies too, I guess his didn't because he was always different. And the awful thing is, when the time came, he couldn't help his mind dying. When they loop the time in the Matrix, they have to alter people's memories of the past. Somehow that erasing destroyed his mind.

"But there was a prophecy made. He would come back. And he came back alright.

"The name he was given was Thomas Anderson. The name he chose was Neo. And Morpheus unplugged Neo."

"Who is Morpheus?"

"A man, a Jack, a fighter. He went against every rule when he found Neo, who was almost thirty when he was unplugged. Morpheus trained him mercilessly," Gavin smiles.

"Neo was always different, he was older and he had a gift for fighting. But his age limited him, he had trouble letting go, and he still treated the construct as a kind of reality.

"On Neo's trip to see the Oracle, they were all betrayed. A crewmember, Cypher, gave Morpheus to the AI in exchange for a new life in the Matrix. Morpheus was captured all the crew but Neo, Trinity and Tank were killed. But Tank killed Cypher, and got Neo Trin out. Then Neo went back in to save Morpheus.

"He succeeded Morpheus jacked out, but Neo was trapped by an Agent, and killed.

"I don't know how, but Neo came back to life. He won't tell you anything, he says he remembers nothing after he got shot. But when he came back, he was the One. Now, when he's in the Matrix, he can see the code, and read it, and he can change it like Raven could.

"But Neo will explain it to you once your training starts."

"When will that be?"

He looks at her, "All too soon kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"You're sixteen."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"That's only four years difference."

"Four years is a long time in the Real World," his voice has gone sad.

"When were you unplugged?"

"Three years ago," he smiles, looking into the distance of memory once more. "I got caught changing my school grades. It was easy enough, but I made the mistake of trying it from school, and a teacher caught me in a classroom at lunchtime. I got suspended."

"Who contacted you?"

"Trinity. When I got my report, it was all changed. I hadn't managed it, but I had gotten all As, even for sport, and I hadn't been to a class all year. I got a message that night, and then we met.

"I was amazed that I'd been chosen. I wasn't a real hacker, I had a problem with morals so I couldn't scam money or trash someone's files, I just liked being places I shouldn't have been, it was fun.

"Like most of the others, I'd heard the term 'Matrix', and I wondered what it was. I had the usual doubts and suspicions about reality. I always felt as if someone was lurking in my head the way I lurked in other people's computers. Then I met Neo and he told me I was right, there was something watching. And if I wanted, I could be free of it."

Nanu suddenly feels very guilty, here she is lurking in Gavin's mind and he doesn't know it. But still, she doesn't withdraw. Gavin's thoughts have links and ties with each other, associations she can follow like a web, each string bringing another image to light.

The Crew is like a family to Gavin, and that brings images of playing with a younger brother and – a sister? – and that leads to another memory; chasing the brother through the City, and Nanu can hear Gavin call out;

"Sam! Come back here!" and then something much stranger happens.

The little boy stumbles as a woman runs past close by, a woman in a long black coat, then there is a flash of light, then a man in a brown suit is standing where the boy was. Then the woman turns around and shoots the man, and there is another light, and Sam is lying on the ground with a hole in his stomach and blood seeping from it, and Gavin is kneeling over him crying. And Nanu can tell from the sound of his voice that Gavin is still a child himself.

"That all seems a very long time ago now," the man's voice startles Nanu; she'd been hearing the boy.

Gavin sighs, and she knows he's thinking of the eternally cold, comfortless existence that is now his life.

"I'd better go back to bed Gavin," his name suddenly feels strange in her mouth.

"Goodnight Nanu," he says, but she doesn't answer. She's already gone.

***


	4. Training and Revelations

Nanu's Story – Training and Revelations.

***Neo***

He is on Deck early. He goes through disks, programs; things Nanu must learn.

Should she begin training today?

He is never certain how to instruct a rookie, having never really been one himself. He had been 'the new guy' once, of course, but Morpheus had never made allowances for him.

Neo stares at the screen with its green code, figures sliding like water down glass. When he looks at this he sees it very differently to everyone else. Tank can read it like a book, others recognise strings of symbols and piece together what happens, but Neo sees it like a movie. The code seems to go out of focus and forms a picture, a scene.

He looks away, around the Deck. He can remember another Deck, on the first Neb, and how it seemed so tangled and confusing.

He can remember when Tank helped him into chair 2, loaded up combat training; Jujitsu. Neo can remember the explosive feeling of knowledge filling his head and mind, and suddenly realising he _knew_ Jujitsu.

But he doesn't want to inflict that upon Nanu. Not yet.

Neo hadn't been treated like a normal 'rookie', he had been the One, or so everyone had said. He had been expected to be better, faster than anyone else. He had been expected to make his first Jump.

Which wasn't really fair as far as Neo was concerned. He'd only ever wanted what everyone else got.

Nanu is different. Neo can't pin down why, or what it is she can do, but she is _different_.

And part of him wants to find out what she is capable of, to stretch her, let her see what she can be.

Another part wants to protect her. He knows she isn't innocent, but she is young. She has never needed to be tough, to survive.

That's the worst thing about training, about learning to kill. It makes a person into a soldier, it hardens them, makes the spirit pull in deeper underground. Some rare people don't freeze over as much. Avis. Digi. Gavin.

Mouse.

Neo sighs. Tasty Wheat. He can't eat any more without making that connection. One day he'll tell Nanu about Mouse, about how he died.

He pulls a disk from the pile at random; Jujitsu.

He smiles bitterly, shakes his head.

"What's funny?"

He doesn't turn. He knows it's Nanu.

"The disk," he looks at her as she comes up beside him in the operator's chair. "These are training programs. I chose on at random. This," he holds up the disk, "this is the first program I ever learnt."

"Am I starting training today?"

"Yes. But with Tank, not me."

"Why not you?" but there's no childish tone to her voice.

"You should get to know everyone. It's better that way."

"I know Gavin and Trinity, not just you."

"Sometimes I think you know everything."

She goes still, looking at the screen. "I don't know nearly enough." Her eyes squint for a moment, then she asks Neo, "Can you read that?"

"It's not like reading, it's, I don't know I can't explain it." He looks hard at the screen. "It's like knowing a language, and knowing how to speak it, but not knowing how to translate it." Neo turns his eyes to her, she's frowning. "Does that make sense to you?"

She nods, not breaking eye contact. She has eyes like something wild, he never noticed before.

"It makes sense. Though logic says it shouldn't, I know what you mean," her voice trails into nothing as she looks back to the screen.

"So what do you see?"

"I'm watching Biosa, the captain of another ship. She's checking out a copper I told her about, she wants to unplug her."

"What's her name?"

"The name she was given is Patricia Hung. The name she chose is Wraith."

"Good name. Where is she?"

"Working, a mail room in the City."

"She a hacker?"

"Of sorts. She's pretty well known, but she's also like Gavin; too many scruples for notoriety."

"So she'll go through everything I've been through, bugging, debugging, the pill and all that?"

"It's never quite the same experience from one person to the next, but yes, the same sequence."

"I hope she appreciates it, I hope she is willing to live with the truth when she gets it."

Then Nanu steps back, folds her arms. Tank emerges from below deck, calling a good morning to Neo. When he sees Nanu, he halts, but only briefly.

"You're up early," he says.

"Up and at 'em," she smiles. "When does training start?"

"Jeez," Tank raises his eyebrows, gives her an appraising look. "You're up _really_ early."

Nanu shrugs, uncomfortable now the attention's on her.

"Have you eaten yet, Tank?" Neo asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"Perhaps training could begin, if there's nothing else you need to do."

Tank, hesitates, then nods; "Sure, c'mon Nanu."

***Nanu***

She inhales as Tank slides the jack into her head. Nothing is loaded, so nothing happens. He returns to the desk with Neo, and there is a brief, quiet, discussion about if she should begin combat training or something easier. Neo wins, and Tank slides in a disk, Jujitsu.

"This is going to be weird Nanu," Neo warns, and then she shuts her eyes as the program begins to run.

__

Jujitsu. Knowledge. She knows, suddenly, how to use this style of defence. Her nerves are electrified; her body thrums like a taut string.

The program is finished and Nanu's eyes open. She's breathing heavily, nostrils flaring, and she swears with a rush of feeling.

"How was that?" asks Tank.

"_Damn_ good!"

Neo smiles, "How about some more?"

She manages to smile back. Her voice is unsteady, shaking with adrenaline, "Hell yes."

Neo claps Tank on the shoulder and leaves with one last glance, but Nanu is going into the next program and barely notices his confused look.

***

The programs run out eventually, but the artificial sparring programs last longer. Tank loads new opponents, bigger, faster, tougher opponents, and Nanu fights them all, beating some, losing to more, until she's near exhausted.

She lies in the chair, trying to focus her eyes on the screen above her. And she's wondering why her muscles are sore if it's only her mind in the program.

"You want to spar with someone real?" Tank asks.

"Like who?" Nanu turns her head a little to see him.

"Gavin's the newest besides you. And he asked to."

"When?"

"About ten minutes ago. You were in."

"Oh," Nanu shuts her eyes, tries to breathe deeper. "Sure, why not?"

"You're not too tired?"

Tank is only being concerned, but her eyes open and anger flares anyway, "No."

"I'll go get him," Tank smiles. "Don't you go anywhere."

She closes her eyes again as he leaves. She can feel her muscles loosening. Gavin. Nanu is still remembering seeing how his little brother died.

Where's Gavin now? Helping Achi do inventory in the armory. The armory, that's Neo's new hideout. Neo is, coming to check on her. Odd that he should do that. He's curious to see what she's achieved, how much she's learned. Why? What is it about her that interests him? A difference in her coding, her character, what she knows?

But Nanu doesn't know why or how she can do what she does, how she listens in on peoples thoughts and how she can tell what they're experiencing. Neo probably knows more about it than she does.

Neo is . . . here. Nanu opens her eyes, sees him approaching. He goes to the desk, checks her statistics.

"Not bad," he complements. "76% victory, you made it to level eight."

"Level one was like fighting a kid, I started to lose once it got realistic."

"It's your first day Nanu. No one gets to the top level on their first day."

"You probably did," she laughs.

"We didn't have this program then."

"Bet that's the only reason. Or you're just being modest."

Neo laughs. Not loudly, not long, but he laughs, and the whole fabric of him changes.

She hears footsteps; Tank and Gavin coming closer. Neo stifles his smile, sits down and begins typing. "Are you going to spar with Gavin?"

"She sure is," Gavin comes up from below. Neo glances up at her and mouths, 'Get ready'.

__

. . . static . . .

Then she's in the program. It's a small, dim, room, with a concrete floor, grey brick walls and one door. It's quiet.

She stands in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do. Then there is the sound of another breath in the room and Gavin is beside her.

"Hide and seek. This is a game."

"How is hide and seek training?"

"It tests your speed, and how well you handle pressure. It's training when you have to run for your life with Agents after you."

"Agents?"

"Guys in brown suits, no one but Neo can beat them in a fight."

"What do I have to do?"

"Find me. I'm going to leave now, and you have to wait until the door opens, then you have to find me."

"Are there any Agents?"

"Yes. You have to try avoid them."

"Time limit?"

"Two minutes."

"Right. That all?"

"Yeah," he turns for the door, opens it. "See you soon." And then the door is shut and he's gone.

She shuts her eyes, thinks with all her mind – _Gavin_. Now this might actually help her.

Nanu can_ feel him, as if he is around her, and she feels what he does. Cool air and hard ground as he jogs down the grey hall. Turn right, left, right then fight again. She memorises his route as he goes, then he stops in a dead end with another door and she _opens her eyes.

The door is open, and she goes through it.

Bang! There is a flash of light on her left side and she hears the whistle of a bullet past her head.

An Agent. Goddammit.

Nanu turns right and runs. She runs as fast as she physically can.

Bang! She ducks left, into another corridor of the maze. Then right, then right and she can hear the Agent behind her as she runs and she hears him fire again.

__

'Find me'. But would finding Gavin lead the Agent to him? This is just a game but Nanu hates to lose. And she doesn't want to feel the program's interpretation of how much it hurts to be shot.

She turns off course. Away from Gavin.

Bang! Brick explodes from the wall beside her head; she turns again, feeling lost, and beginning to get scared. And her lungs are hurting. Another shot.

How many guns does the Agent have? Will he run out of ammo?

Guns. Nanu rounds a corner and there are dozens of them, shelves line both walls all down the hall. She grabs two uzis and turns. One heartbeat. Two.

The Agent comes around the corner and Nanu opens fire. Caught off guard, the Agent flickers and disappears, defeated.

Nanu picks up another two handguns and shoves them into the top of her jeans, then keeps moving.

Gavin. Where in hell is he? But it all looks the same, even through his eyes.

Neo would know what to do. He probably has a map of this damn maze and he's watching her right now thinking, _go right Nanu._

There is a corridor on her right. She turns into it.

__

Left Nanu.

She turns left.

__

Straight ahead, then third left.

Sprint down the hall, spin around the corner, and then she can see Gavin, holding a door open for her, and she's running so fast it's not quite real and then they fall through the door, and she opens her eyes and Tank is saying, "One minute fifty-nine."

"Jesus," Neo looks at her, "there was an Agent in there wasn't there?"

"Yes," Nanu's breath begins to slow as Tank comes around to unplug Gavin. "Did I win or lose?"

"Win, certainly. But . . ." he looks at Gavin as the young man sits up, rubbing the back of his neck. Then the jack slides out of her head and she sits upright, leaning elbows on knees.

"No one has ever made it out once an Agent turned up. People have made it out in the time limit, but no one has ever beaten an Agent."

Except Neo of course.

"Where did your guns come from?" Gavin asks.

"I just found them, I don't know," she turns to Neo. "Are they a bonus in the game or something?"

He thinks. "A Zion-born on another ship designed this program, she told me when we copied it that there were guns in there somewhere to help the players, but we couldn't find it. It's not on the map. But how in hell did you beat the Agent?"

"I came around the corner and found the guns. I grabbed two, and when he came around the corner after me I fired." She frowns, remembering Gavin's memory. "But real Agents are different right?"

"Yes, but you'll found out how later."

"Why not now?"

"It's late."

"Late?"

Neo smiles wanly, "Time flies when you're having fun Nanu. You've been training for about eight hours."

"Oh, I didn't realise." She moves, and winces at pain. "I guess I'll see you at dinner, once I can move again."

"Don't take too long," Gavin jokes, "or I'll eat your dinner," he smiles, then clambers out of his chair and follows Tank down the ladder.

Neo stays at the desk, watching her with a strange expression on his face. Like he's, _like I'm . . . scared. Scared of her, of the way she's different. Yet I'm curious, curious to see how much more she can do. Curious to see, to see, how she fights. How she'd spar with someone real, how she would spar with . . .me._

"What are you thinking?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm not sparring with you today. I'm tired enough already."

"What?"

"I heard you. I know what you're thinking. And I want you to know something." Carefully she eases out of the chair, and begins to walk toward him. His eyes move to follow her.

"I don't know why you chose me. But I know I can do things that you can't. I know you spend every night alone in the armory. I know Trin makes you cry. I know you hardly sleep.

"I know people think you're invincible. I know Trin fears for you, for your life. I know you are the most important thing in Gavin's life, and I know that for many others you are their only hope. And in know that scares you."

"How . . . ?"

"I don't know how. All I know is that I know."

His mind is closing. He shakes his head.

"No. in don't believe you.

"Let me prove it to you. You've said that I'm different, let me show you how. Or you can explain why you chose me. Of all people, why me?"

He doesn't know that, he shrugs.

"So let me prove it."

His expression is flat, like a shut door. "Go ahead."

Nanu stands with her hands by her sides. She tries to relax.

How to do this? Neo . . .

__

Neo is . . . suspicious, nervous, and trying not to let her read him. He doesn't understand how she could know about him and Trinity.

Neo and Trinity.

She closes her eyes. _A dark room, loud industrial music. Alone against the wall, feeling awkward. Leather clad dancers all around, a feeling of being out place._

Lyrics.

Dead I am the one

Exterminating son

Slipping through the trees

Strangling the breeze

"Hello Neo."

Neo/Nanu turns around.

"How do you know that name?"

"I know a lot about you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Trinity."

Nanu opens her eyes. The Main Deck is shadowy and dim. Neo sits still, watching her.

"You met Trinity at a club, she knew your name but you didn't know her."

He stares. But then he shakes his head and she knows he's not convinced.

She folds her arms, bows her head. Deeper. Deeper underground. She needs a purpose, a direction, a search word, a name.

__

Thomas Anderson.

Thomas.

Blank.

__

She feels very small. A face above her, no him, blurs into focus. A woman with dark brown eyes, black hair pulled back from a narrow face and a tired expression looks down on him/her. There are fading bruises on her cheek.

"Tom. Come on Tommy, we have to go."

"Mom?" his voice is a little boy's voice, sleepy and confused.

"Come on Tommy, we're going."

The woman, his mother, lifts him out of bed, dresses him quietly and puts on his coat, then she carries him out to the car. It's dark and cold, and beginning to get rainy. The house is all pale fibro walls and dark roof and windows with ragged curtains; it crouches in the small muddy yard.

Then the door shuts, and the car drives them both away.

Nanu opens her eyes. She looks up at Neo, who is watching her closely.

"Your mother woke you up in the middle of the night, and took you with her, away from home."

His breath catches. He looks away.

"I was four. I remember. My mother, I haven't thought of her in years. I don't even know if she's still alive."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have – " she is scared of the almost tears in his eyes.

"No, it's alright." He breathes in, the wall around the memory is piled up again. After a pause; "How did you know?"

"I don't know exactly how," she shrugs, uncomfortable with what she's just done; looked into Neo's forgotten childhood.

"I'd almost forgotten that happened. Nobody could have told you about that."

"You did in a way."

"I don't follow you."

"I think I saw your memory somehow, through your eyes. I don't know how I did it, but I did."

"What other memories have you seen?" he's on alert now.

"Just that one, and when you first met Trinity."

"What music was playing?"

She tells him the lyrics.

"God . . . what else _could_ you see?"

"I don't know, but I won't go hacking your mind."

"Oh," he doesn't let much show, but she can tell he's relieved. "What else can you do?"

She looks away. She doesn't really want to tell him all she can do. But there is one thing – 

"I can tell where people are, like, on the ship. If I listen for them."

"Where's Tank?"

__

Tank . . .

"He's in the galley, eating, with Gavin, Key and Tod."

"What about Trin and Achi?"

__

Trinity . . .

"The storeroom, talking."

"About what?"

Breathe in slowly.

__

It's cool in the storeroom. Rows of metal lockers line the walls, Trin is leaning against them. Achi is scrambling combinations, locking the doors one by one.

"What exactly do you mean by weird?" she asks Trin.

"I don't know. I'm just uncomfortable around her around her. It's like she knows something I don't."

"Has she said anything to that effect?"

Pause. "Yes."

"But you're not going to tell me what, are you?"

She smiles very faintly, "No."

"You know what I think?" Achi tucks a dred behind her ear. "I think she's different, but she's a good person. So I'll try to like her."

"And you think I should do the same?"

"Captain, I think you're psychic."

Nanu opens her eyes.

"They're not talking about anything."


	5. The Jump

(A.N. Many apologies for the time taken to update this story, ff.net is banned from school _and_ home, so it takes me longer to get around the back way to upload. Plus I've got exams coming up...)

***Gavin***

He looks up as Nanu enters the galley. She goes straight to the shelves, takes down a bowl, and then carefully pours goop from the dispenser.

Gavin opens his mouth to tell her where to find the sporks, but she seems to know already. He wonders briefly who told her.

She sits down opposite him and begins eating. Her eyes look at the table like she's seeing something else. She's thinking, but she looks relieved, like a load has been lifted from her shoulders.

He goes back to his own food, remembering what it felt like to be new. He is grateful for Nanu's coming, if only for the reason that he is no longer junior-most.

But he can't help wondering what she's thinking about.

***Nanu***

Neo. He knows now.

She feels lighter for telling him what she's been doing, but sad for reminding him of a past that he has buried. And she feels guilty for not telling him she was eavesdropping on Trinity and him the other day.

But he knows now that she _can_ eavesdrop, and scan through his mind. But that takes time, and quiet.

Nanu has a feeling she'll be kept busy from now on.

Tomorrow she'll run through a few more programs and, if he has time, she'll spar with Neo.

She's worried about that. Neo will want to see how well she can fight, how well she can work with the program.

She knows it's not real. She knows it's just a computer program. Some rules can be bent. Others, can be broken. She _knows_ that.

But _how_ to bend them, that she doesn't know.

Trin had said that being a hacker didn't matter, but Nanu doesn't agree. Thomas Anderson had been a program _writer_; Neo knew how programs worked. All Nanu ever did was use them.

She has basic computer skills, but among these people, in this world, they are laughable. Who cares if she could use Microsoft Office when the man opposite could probably hack Bill Gates' private PC? When Microsoft never really existed?

Sure, she may have ESP or something, but can that save her from an Agent?

Nanu finishes, puts her bowl upside down in the steam washer, and leaves the galley as silently as she came.

She tries not to think of Sam as Gavin watches her go.

***

Nanu doesn't think. She can't afford the time to think.

__

Thump! She's on the ground again, her cheek against the grimy concrete of the alley simulation.

"Come on Nanu, get up," Neo, being so patient she can't believe he's sincere. They've been at this for ages, and she's still getting hammered. Neo's not even trying.

She climbs slowly to her feet.

"Why does this hurt if it's not real?"

"Your mind makes it real."

"What does that mean?" she leans against the wall.

"You perceive this program as real. You accept its rules as real. I don't know how you change your way of perception; it's different for everyone."

"How did you realise?"

He smiles, "I got shot. But this is _your_ training."

"You do that don't you?"

"What?"

"Avoid answering questions."

"You can't talk."

"Why not?"

"You're avoiding working."

She laughs shortly, then moves in. But he blocks every move she makes, then -

__

Thump!

Again! The air goes out of her lungs in a rush and she lies on her back, still.

"God," she heaves in a breath. A hand appears, she takes it and Neo pulls her up. She stumbles; her knee got twisted. He catches her arm to hold her steady.

"Do you want to take a break?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

She looks up, frowns. "Why is everyone trying to make things easier for me? I want to do what you do."

"You're new Nanu."

"Things weren't any easier for you when you were."

"Still - "

"I'm going to keep going, are you?"

He smiles; "Yes." 

He lets go, steps away. When Nanu puts weight on her leg, the knee almost buckles, and alarm flashes in Neo's mind. It shows on his face.

No.

Wait.

His _mind_.

It shows in his _mind_!

She shuts her eyes, thinks, opens them. Messages from the program into her brain, her central nervous system. Just impulses. Electrical signals interpreted by her brain.

A door closes. This isn't real.

The simulation is trying to tell her; Your leg hurts, you can't stand on your right leg. Your ribs are cracked, it hurts to breathe.

No. It's not real.

Now she sees this for what it is. A deception.

"Come on," she grins, and moves, sudden and fast and _almost_ catching him off guard. Her fists blur, and Neo backs up, then comes out offensive again. She keeps going, ducking, blocking, trying to land a few blows of her own then he's too fast and _wham!_ Nanu is thrown back into the wall.

Bricks crumble, she flops to the ground.

Neo swears and moves forward to help her up, but she's doing it alone. On her knees, she looks up at him and smiles.

"Had you working then didn't I?" she's not breathing hard at all.

"Where in hell did that come from?"

She gets the rest of the way to her feet, uninjured.

"It all makes sense now. Everything. My leg can't be hurting because I'm still safe in my chair on Deck. I don't look like this," she takes her long braid in one hand, "This isn't air I'm breathing now."

"You're beginning to see the light then," he smiles. Then he puts his hands in his coat pockets with a sly expression. "How about we try another sim?"

"Like?"

"Tank? Load the Jump program."

White floods into her vision then clears to show a new scene. Wind blows hair in her eyes. They stand on the top of a skyscraper, high above the City.

"The test now Nanu," Neo looks at her closely, "is if you can apply your knowledge. I'll give you three words. Free Your Mind."

Then he runs for the edge of the roof and takes off, leaping across the wide street to the next building.

She smiles; "Cool."

Nanu walks to the edge and looks down. Eighty odd stories, it looks like. The sim is _telling_ her it looks like.

She folds her arms, thinks. Neo is watching her from the other roof. He can wait; she has to focus.

Can she ignore the signals of the program? Can she create her own illusion of a reality with the lies she tells herself?

Worth a try.

She's on the brink, she steps up onto the concrete ledge. Wind. Her hair moves, her coat pulls at her shoulders like flexing wings.

She takes a deep breath then -

One step. She stands on - nothing, solid air.

Another step. Then another. Nanu walks calmly across the street, smiling like an idiot and wanting to laugh.

There, concrete beneath her again; she made it.

Neo is staring at her.

"How . . . ?"

"That's the first rule of flying in your dreams Neo, you can never explain how."

"You were walking on air!" he blurts out.

"And?" she's so happy she could pop.

"Jesus." Neo looks at nothing in particular, "Tank, get us out."

***

She blinks. Her body is fine, but her head is pounding.

Achi pulls her plug, and Nanu gingerly sits up.

Everyone is there. Everyone is staring at her.

"No one has ever made their first Jump," Tank says very quietly.

"How did you do that?" Key speaks for all of them.

"I, I guess I just ignored the program," Nanu says, feeling unbelievably awkward. Blank faces answer her.

"I can't explain it any better than that." She moves her head and regrets it instantly. Pain throbs in her temples like loud industrial music.

Neo is out of his chair, offering her a hand to help her down, but some stupid sense of pride makes her climb out of her chair alone. He is about to take her back to her cabin when a voice stops him.

Trinity.

"Wait Nanu," her voice is hard, ice hard, an order.

Nanu turns, meets her stare for stare.

"Yes?"

"Why is it that the One didn't make his first Jump, and yet you walk on air, like it's nothing special, the very first time you try?"

Tension hums in the air, a sound just beyond the edge of hearing.

"There are many things I don't know yet Trinity," she feels tired, but she holds her chin high and her expression inscrutable.

"And the answer to that is one of them."

She leaves, and Neo does not follow her. Nobody does.

***


	6. The Armoury

(Finally! The ban has been lifted! For more regular updates, check my homepage at www.angelfire.com/film/blakelupin.html)

Nanu's Story - The Armoury

***Trinity***

Why her? Trinity sits on her bed, blanket around her, leaning against the wall.

Nanu. She knows things. There is something different about her, but Trinity doesn't know what.

"God, what is wrong with me?" her voice echoes in the cold dark silence.

Trin is worried. Neo was foretold, it was one thing to witness his miracle when she had known he was the One. She had been waiting for him.

But there was never a mention of another like him. Trinity doesn't really understand what it meant to 'have the Gift', but people like the Oracle's potentials aren't common. Does Nanu have the Gift? She may be more than Neo. She had made her first Jump, and she hadn't even jumped it.

How can someone walk on air?

Jumping involves a flexing of the rules, a bending of them. Nobody really knows how it's done. Tank had once asked Trin how she leapt rooftops and ran up walls, she hadn't been able to explain it very well.

Some people never really let go of the idea that the Matrix was real. Any discussion about whether the Matrix was a _sort_ of real or not tended to lead to headaches.

A subconscious realisation and understanding,(_knowing_ not thinking) that the rules can bend is what allows them to jump. It gives a Jack extra speed, extra strength, power beyond what the Matrix decrees.

Neo can do what he does because for some unknown reason the rules don't apply to him.

He can _fly_ for god's sake.

But walking on air?

That's more than a momentary flexing of the rules. It's more like making new rules.

And Trinity doesn't know what to think about that.

She wants to confront Nanu, ask her again what happened.

And for some strange reason she finds herself opening her door and making for Nanu's cabin.

***

She pauses outside, then taps on the door with one knuckle, five times.

Quiet. Then – 

"Come in Trinity."

She opens the door, enters, then closes it behind her and stands with her arms folded. A single globe shines in the wall above Nanu's bed. The girl is sitting up with her hands on her knees and her legs crossed. She looks like she's meditating.

"Why aren't you asleep Trinity?"

"Why aren't you?"

"My head hurts."

"Why don't you see someone about it? Key's the medic."

Shrug.

"There should be painkillers in the locker behind you," she points.

"Why did you come here?"

"I," Trinity frowns, disliking being put on the spot. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

She has a question in mind, but other words come out.

"Do you know why you're different?"

"I think so."

"How?" Trinity prompts.

Nanu meets her eyes directly. They almost glow, but yet, there is nothing significant about the girl. She's not remarkable at all.

"Go ask Neo. He knows."

"I'd rather you told me."

Nanu heaves a deep breath. "I'm not going to explain it all to you, I'm tired. But sit down and I'll tell you something."

Awkwardly Trin sits down beside her on the bunk, at an angle, half facing her. Her sceptical mind is ready to reject whatever Nanu says; the way she talks reminds Trinity of a fortuneteller.

"What was the name you were given?"

"Linda Brandon. Why?"

No answer. Nanu closes her eyes, and her breath begins to slow.

Trinity sits motionless, and waits.

***Nanu***

__

Memories in this mind are buried deep.

They lie haphazardly like dusty photo albums, hidden in a steel vault.

Linda.

Images come to light, arguing with her father, overhearing adults talking about her, spending hours on her computer until light returns to the sky and the stars fade and the cat comes back home.

Deeper.

Climbing in a playground with other children who call names, fighting with children older and bigger than her, learning to tie her shoelaces.

Then Nanu finds a door.

Within, a memory buried beneath all the others, something Trinity has kept under wraps for years.

She is nine years old. Her father has been out all night drinking the dole money, and Linda is out looking for him.

Blur . . .

With the money she has stolen from her father, Linda hurries home.

Wait. Something is wrong. She's lost. In her own city. Lost. Walls of grey and black reach up into the gunmetal sky. The air is thick in the hot summer night.

Blurr . . .

Three of them. Older boys who are not so old but they loom over the little girl.

Bluuurrrrrr . . . . pain . . . dark . . . loud . . fists . . . blood . . she fights back, scuffles, bites . . . lashes out but they're gone, gone . . . gone and she's alone, kneeling in the gutter with the money gone . . .

But Linda gets to her feet and tries to follow after them, she needs the money or they'll lose their home and that's happened before and she doesn't want it to happen again so she staggers through the crowds but then . . .

Blurr . . . she's alone again. In an old decrepit part of the city where the warehouse windows are boarded up or smashed and the crumbling walls are full of doorways.

A voice out of the dark. A young man, in his early twenties.

"You were looking for this?" he holds out a wad of notes. He is tall and straight, like a human shadow in his dark leather coat and – shades?

"Who are you?" the little girl's voice blurs through a cut lip.

"Morpheus."

And Nanu thinks, of course. Who else?

She opens her eyes.

But she is reluctant to tell Trinity of what she has seen. Only this memory will convince her, but it is so full of pain Nanu doesn't really want to remind her of it.

"You were nine when you first met him."

"Who?" nerve endings bristle.

"Morpheus."

Silence. Trinity stares. "How did you find out about that?"

"Go ask Neo. He knows how."

Slowly, Trinity gets up. "Would you know where he is?"

"The armoury."

Trin leaves, and Nanu, head pulsing, lies down, turns off the light and pulls the blanket over her head.

***Trinity***

He's not asleep. He's curled up on the floor under a workbench in the back corner but he's not asleep.

"Neo?"

He sits up too quickly and hits his head on the underside of the bench.

"Ow!" he swears, "Trin?"

"Are you awake now?"

He crawls out into the open, "I can't be certain I'm not still dreaming. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you about Nanu."

"What about her?" he clears a space on the bench and hoists himself up. Trinity folds her arms and stays where she is.

"What exactly can she do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I'm talking about Neo. What has she done, and what more can she do?"

His face changes, he's seeing her differently.

"She read your mind didn't she?"

"She told me something nobody could have told her, something I'd almost forgotten." A consideration . . . "What did she tell you?"

He looks at his hands, thinking. When he looks back to her it's clear he's made a decision.

"When I was a kid, about four, my mother woke me up in the middle of the night and drove us away from my father. I don't remember him, and she never spoke about him. I guess he wasn't a nice guy and that's why she left." He swallows. "I'd forgotten. Nanu reminded me."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. She said she saw my memory."

"Could she see anything else?" Trin moves closer, speaks quieter. "If she wanted to, could she hack your mind? Or mine?"

"Yes."

"Jesus."

"But she won't."

"How do you know?"

"She said. I believe her."

"Oh."

He looks at her closely. "Do you want to tell me what happened, what she reminded you? It may help."

She hesitates. They've never talked about their pasts. There was never time. It was always work, sentinels, agents, viruses, new recruits and near escapes. For almost four years. They know very little about each other.

She moves forward and hoists herself up beside him on the bench. Their knees and shoulders brush, they haven't been so close in weeks.

To think that one choice of an inappropriate target could make them start to sleep at different ends of the ship. But it is more than them at stake. There is always more at stake these days.

She inhales. "My dad," she begins, the words slowly coming together to form a pattern she's never spoken. "He drank. He'd collect the dole money and then go spend it in bars all over the city. He wasn't a bad guy, just weak. My mother was never around. I don't remember her at all.

"Anyway this one night he'd gone out, and I was afraid he'd drink the money we needed for rent. I found him eventually and picked his pocket. I had to steal from my own father.

"I was on the way home when I got lost. Three older guys came across me and they took the rent money."

Carefully he takes her hand. She continues talking.

"I tried to follow them but I lost them. Then Morpheus found me." She smiles, no more than a softening of her eyes.

"Somehow he had the money, and he showed me the way home."

"Had you heard of the Matrix then?"

"No, but I still didn't believe the world was real. I heard the term 'Matrix' about three years later. Then Morpheus was really famous, or infamous, and I guess that's when I got the idea he could help me again." She turns her head, then asks,

"So when did you start looking for him?"

"I was twenty or so – "

"A late developer."

" – and I read an entry of his on a hacker board. He came on an asked 'what is the Matrix?' and most people couldn't even guess. One person thought it was a rumour being spread to advertise a computer game."

They sit for a moment in silence, remembering.

"I don't know much about you," Trinity blurts out.

"What do you want to know?"

She shrugs "Anything. But I don't like it that I've known you four years and I only just found out you never knew your father."

"Did you ever have a dog?"

"What?"

"I'm finding out about you," he smiles. "Did you ever have a dog?"

"We always lived in an apartment block, so no, but I once had a black cat."

"Named?"

"Noir."

He laughs softly, his head tilting back. When he laughs he always reminds her of how he looks when he's sleeping – innocent. When he laughs she wants to protect that innocent part of him.

"What about you? You ever have a pet?"

And they talk about nothing in particular for a very long time.

***

__

Keep an eye out for the next chapter of Nanu's Story;

Trouble and Implications


	7. Trouble and Implications

  
Nanu's Story - Trouble and Implications   
**  
Nanu **  
"Nanu, wake up!" Key bangs loudly on the door, the metal booms.   
Her head still hurts, but she rolls out of bed and turns the wheel to admit the medic.   
"Have you seen Neo? Do you know where he is?"   
"Why?"   
"Biosa needs him for backup, do you know where he is?" Biosa is the captain who was targeting Wraith . . .   
"Did you check his room?"   
"Not there."   
"I'll get him," and barefoot, Nanu makes for the armoury.   
***   
She opens the door, slips in without a sound. Cold aches up through her feet.   
Neo and Trinity are curled up, asleep, sharing the one blanket. Oblivious to the panic upstairs their faces are peaceful.   
Nanu _really_ doesn't want to wake them up, but she knows she has to. She goes back to the door and opens it, them slams it shut with an echoing clang.   
"Damn, what was that?" Trinity begins to wake up.   
"Neo," Nanu calls, walking around a rack of tools like she only just came in.   
"Jesus, Neo, wake up," Trinity urges. As Nanu comes around the corner Neo is standing up, rubbing his eyes.   
"Neo, they need you on Deck, Biosa called for backup."   
He swears in acknowledgment and runs for the armoury door. Trin wraps the blanket around her shoulders and studies Nanu.   
"You knew we were down here. You knew last night Neo was here."   
"Neo has been sleeping here since before I came."   
"Even I didn't know where he slept."   
"You two weren't speaking, how could you have known?"   
"True," then she turns and leaves for the Main Deck.   
**  
Neo **  
"Biosa and two of her crew are trapped in the hotel. SWAT men are coming in form the ground floor and they have the basement covered."   
In the alley outside, Neo sketches out a plan.   
"Gavin, I want you in the drain, if anyone gets out that way call Tank then show them to the exit. Key and Tod, the same goes for you but stake out the front door and loading dock. Trin and me will go in from the top. Keep in touch."   
Silently they separate, each checking their phones and weapons. Neo and Trinity move like shadows to the dim loading dock at the back of the hotel. Close to the wall, Neo wraps an arm around her waist.   
"There is no spoon," she smiles, and then Neo takes off and they fly up to the roof.   
**  
Gavin **  
He cringes as he slides open the manhole cover. It stinks down there.   
He drops in with a splash, reaches up and replaces the cover. Turning right, he sloshes through ankle deep water, moving for the hotel drain entrance. If by some chance Biosa or her crew make it through the basement, they'll come through here.   
But he's not going to enjoy waiting in this stink.   
**  
Nanu **  
They're all jacked in. all of them but Nanu.   
She paces back and forth behind Tank, quietly freaking out.   
"Nanu, stop that, you're making me dizzy."   
"Aren't you even remotely worried?"   
"Sure I am, but hey, look who's in there," he gestures to chair 3, Neo's chair. "He's superman for crying out loud, they'll be fine. Now go do the washing up or something."   
"Chauvinist."   
He laughs, and Nanu makes for the galley, still worried.   
**  
Neo **  
There's no one left alive on the roof but Neo and Trinity. All the cops are dead.   
"Do you see any agents?"   
"Not for the moment."   
They make their way down the fire escape, leaving the roof behind them empty and still, the chopper sitting waiting like a mechanical dragonfly.   
***   
Gunfire rattles up and down the stairwell, the thundering of footsteps echoes off the walls. The inhuman faces of the SWAT men's helmets reflect the flashing light from a failing fluoro tube as they follow the woman and two men up, level after level.   
Above them, Neo swings himself over the rail, drops two floors and catches the rail again with one hand. He leaps in front of the men, moving faster than they can follow, faster than should be possible.   
**  
Trinity **  
"Biosa!" she yells down into the darkness, "come on, you have to get to the roof!"   
"Trinity, we're coming," a curse and a stumbling sound. Trinity starts downstairs as Biosa calls; "Pirate's been hurt!"   
Shots echo below them as Trinity reaches Biosa. Pirate is limping on a wounded leg; he just caught a bullet in his thigh. Radar is trying to help him up the stairs. She lends a shoulder for support and the four of them hurry on.   
"There's a chopper up there that the cops left, Bios, can you fly a B212?"   
"Sure."   
"The exit is only a few blocks away. If you land on the MMI building it's a five-minute run, a subway, State and Balboa."   
"I - " Pirate's voice is a gasp, "I dunno if I can run - "   
"You'll go with Neo, he'll take you straight there."   
"Okay."   
**  
Neo **  
The last man collapses on the landing like a rag doll, a kick to his head rendering him unconscious. Neo is gone before he even hits the ground, running up the stairs.   
Code swims in his eyes; Trin has made it to the roof, she is waiting with Pirate, Biosa is waiting to take off.   
**  
Trinity **  
He comes up over the edge of the fire escape, yells to her;   
"Go with Bios, I'll see you at the exit."   
She wants to argue but follows his order. In here he has power and she has to trust in that. The last Trin sees is Neo bending over Pirate, then lifting him easily and swooping off the roof.   
Then he is out of sight.   
She pulls out her cell phone, calls Tod. She manages to yell 'Exit' over the roar of the chopper, and she knows he'll call Key and Gavin and tell them the same. It's the drill. She leans back and watches the City go by, wondering if this run will make the front page of the paper. She can almost see the headline; Dozens Killed in Violent Terrorist Attack . . .   
**  
Neo **  
He lands outside the subway, letting Pirate down gently. The boy stands on his good leg and leans on Neo, hopping as he is helped down the stairs.   
"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn . . . " he keeps up a steady stream of profanities under his breath.   
"Almost there Pirate, hang on."   
They reach the bottom and Pirate collapses under the pay phone. Neo walks the length of the platform, checking out a pile of cardboard boxes in the far corner. No hobos.   
He goes back to Pirate. The code shows torn muscles and flesh where the bullet ripped through, and, quietly, Neo alters the code. Just as he can think, 'Bullets, stop' and they do, he can think, 'Wound, heal' and it does. What he wants to happen happens.   
A moment later, Pirate looks up with a surprised expression.   
"Did you - ?"   
Neo's face is his answer.   
"Thank you."   
"Your ship is the Solomon, right?"   
"Yeah. Our operator is Cadel, Caddie."   
"I know him," Neo pulls out his mobile, punches a speed dial. _  
-Operator- _  
"Caddie, it's Neo." _  
-Neo?- _  
"Pirate needs out, make the call on this number," Neo reads him the number of the pay phone. "Biosa and Radar are on their way, they'll call you." _  
-Okay, I guess we'll see you again at Home- _  
"See you then Caddie." And he clicks the phone shut.   
A minute silence, maybe less. _  
Ringgg._ Neo takes the receiver and gives it to Pirate on the ground.   
"Thanks sir," then mercury shines through his veins and the illusion dissolves. Neo cradles the receiver.   
Footsteps. Biosa, Radar and Trinity come quickly down the stairs as the payphone begins to ring again. Bios motions Radar forward; "That's for you."   
When he's gone she turns to Neo. "Thanks for your help."   
"What went wrong?" asks Trin.   
"I'm not sure, we were just checking out Wraith, we were going to contact her tonight, but we got traced or something."   
"Or maybe a coppertop tipped off the police," Trinity folds her arms. "The AI don't run a constant surveillance on hard lines, most of the time a jack-in won't be noticed." _  
Ringgg. _  
"That's for you," Neo steps aside with a gesture.   
"See you guys back at Home. Later," and with that, Biosa is gone.   
"Now the waiting game," Trinity hangs up the dangling phone.   
"Do you think it was a copper?" he asks, leaning against the wall. But she's looking at the sign above the stairs; Balboa Street.   
"This is the same subway where . . . "   
"Yes. And you never did tell me what the Oracle told you."   
"It doesn't matter any more."   
"I'd still like to know."   
She begins pacing. She does that when she's thinking.   
"At that time, you didn't believe you were the One. Neither did I, to an extent; I wasn't sure."   
"I wasn't either."   
"But the Oracle told me, basically, that the man I," she hesitates on the word, "the man I loved would be the One. I wasn't sure of anything at that point, but even though I wasn't certain you were the One, I think I loved you."   
"Are you sure now?"   
She stops, turns to him. Her smile goes beyond words, all the more precious for being so rare.   
Footsteps. Tod, Key and Gavin, smelling bad.   
The pay phone rings.   
"Did you call Tank?" Trinity asks them, business again.   
"Yeah," Key nods.   
"Gavin," Neo motions him forward. "You're going first; you stink."   
**  
Nanu **  
She is on Deck as they come out one by one, unscathed. Achi moves around, easing out plugs and shifting gears on chairs. Nanu helps, trying to be useful.   
Neo sits up, looks around. The crew are all there, perched on jack-in chairs or standing near him.   
"Meeting in the galley, right after breakfast."   
His words confirm a fear in Nanu's mind. Something is wrong, and Neo doesn't know why.   
That's bad.   
***   
They all sit crowded around the table, bumping elbows, except Tank, on watch. Nanu is tacked on the end, almost not fitting on the bench. The empty bowls have been cleared, and Neo spreads his hands on the table. Trinity, at his side, watches him.   
"As you know," he begins, "something went wrong today. The Solomon's crew was on a normal run; a routine check on their target. But on their way out there was a problem."   
"They were trapped," Trinity looks around the table. "We don't know how. It may have been a tip off from a coppertop who saw something suspicious, or it could have been the AI."   
"Why would the AI notice a normal run?" Key frowns.   
"We don't know." Neo adds an explanation for Nanu's benefit. "Most of the time the AI don't notice a jack-in unless coppertops get killed, there's just too much for them to monitor. We've been caught before but only because we were turned in by another Jack."   
"Are you saying there's a traitor in Biosa's crew?" Achi folds her arms, and Nanu can see her thinking.   
"I'm not saying anything for certain, but yes that could be the case."   
"Do you have any idea who it could be?" Gavin looks worried. "If it was a Jack who turned them in?"   
"We have to talk to Biosa again," says Trin. "She knows her crew."   
Nanu sees Neo's hands tense momentarily at the 'we'.   
"Achi," he stands. "When you're ready, call the Solomon and arrange a meeting for tomorrow, 0700, at the Lafayette. Biosa, alone, and three of us." Neo looks at each of his crew in turn, his gaze lingering briefly on Nanu.   
"Any questions?"   
Silence.   
"Which three?" Tod asks.   
"Trinity, me, and Nanu."   
***   
_  
Wait for the next chapter,_ The Second Jump. 


	8. The Second Jump

Nanu's Story - The Second Jump

****

Nanu

Tank and Nanu are the only ones on deck, going over the chairs.

"Basic maintenance," he is checking the wiring, she is on her knees wielding a rag. After every run we have to make sure the circuits and all the tech stuff is fine, and we check the chairs themselves regularly." He points to chair four with his screwdriver; "The headrest on that one is unravelling."

Silently, Nanu moves over. It's Gavin's chair, there are blond hairs on the cloth strip she unwraps from around the stuffing. Duct tape, or something like it, holds the stuffing down. She begins to rewrap the cloth.

"How long have you known Neo?"

"Four years, maybe less."

"How old is he?"

"Thirty five I think, I'm not sure." He looks over, "Why?"

"He just seems younger, that's all." She decides to change the subject. "What's Zion like?"

"Warmer. Crowded. And very noisy after being on a ship with only seven other people for months on end."

"You were born there?"

"Yeah, me and Dozer."

"Dozer?"

"My brother. He was my brother."

"Was he on crew when Cypher . . . ?"

"How do you know about him?"

"Gavin told me," at last she can give a normal answer.

"Gavin doesn't know the story as well as some, he wasn't there when it happened."

She ties a knot in the cloth, the headrest fixed. "Who was there?"

"Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, Dozer, me, Apoc, Switch and Mouse."

"And Cypher."

"May he burn in hell."

There is no humour in Tank's voice.

"Mouse was only a little older than you. He'd talk forever but he was a brilliant programmer. Wrote most of the programs we use now." Tank keeps working as he talks and Nanu doesn't move, just listens.

"Apoc and Switch were always a team. They could probably clear a police station in two minutes so long as they were together. She was always so cynical, she and Mouse could have had us all laughing if they'd tried; he was enthusiastic about everything and she could act cold to the point of it seeming silly."

"What about Morpheus?"

"He was our captain."

"Was?"

"He's in Zion now, you'll meet him one day."

Nanu goes back to oiling. As she works her way through the chairs she moves around the core, a structure like a pillar that goes through the whole ship - the power source. A battered plaque is fixed to the side.

Mark III no. 11

Nebuchadnezzar _II_

Made in the USA 2069

A roman figure two is scratched next to the name.

"Nebuchadnezzar the second," Nanu reads. "Is that the name of the ship?"

"Yeah," Tank is a chair behind her, going through the wiring. "She was built from the remains of the first Neb, that one got totalled after a squiddy attack. We only just made it back to Zion and after that she couldn't take any more.

"I helped build this ship. Her registered name is Nebuchadnezzar the second but we still call her the Neb." He smiles a little, lays a hand on the core.

"That plaque is from the first ship. They were going to melt it down for a new one, but I wanted to keep it."

"How long had you been on the Neb?"

"I was first drafted on when I was nine. That's about 15 or 16 years ago now."

"A long time." That's Nanu's whole life.

"Yes," Tank's voice goes soft. "A long time."

***

"Nanu," Neo comes up the ladder, Tod following. He moves, and talks, quickly. "Nanu I'd like to run you through the jump again."

"But I've passed it - "

"I know, but this is a different jump."

"Why?"

"Tomorrow you're going for your first run in the Matrix. Normally I wouldn't worry but now . . . anything could happen. I'd like you to try something first. Tod's been working on a new program."

"It's much the same as the first one," Tod says, "but the way it's encoded is different."

"How different?"

"It's," Tod hesitates, glancing at Neo. "It's Matrix code."

"So trying to change it is just as hard as in the Matrix?"

"Or harder."

"Do you want me to run through it now?" she asks Neo.

"I've just done chair five," Tank says. "It's ready."

"Then we'll run you through now," Neo moves to his chair. "And I'll go in with you."

****

Neo

The view is exactly the same. The wind is the same, cold, almost stinging.

"Can you still do this?"

She doesn't answer, just closes her eyes and lifts one foot like she is going to step up onto something. Looking faintly ridiculous, her mouth moves, and Neo can hear her whisper to herself. She doesn't seem to realise she's thinking out loud.

"Solid, this is solid. I'm not going to fall, this isn't real, I can do this I can change this its' hard but I can I _know_ I can."

Muscles tense, her hands clench, then she steps up. She stands about a yard off the ground, on nothing.

"Did it work?" she asks, eyes still screwed shut.

"Yes," that one word is all he can get out.

She opens her eyes, looks down and smiles slowly. Her shoes scuff audibly on the concrete as she steps down.

"I can ignore this too. It's louder, but I can."

"How much do you think you can do?"

She shrugs.

Neo turns away, considering. He looks back to her, and then,

Takes off.

He springs off the roof and flies straight up.

He can hear his heartbeat, although it's not real here. The air has the consistency of water, smooth and almost tangible, the feeling of wind on his face, pulling his coat as he cuts through the sky, is amazing. How ironic, that he should enjoy this lie.

He looks down, sees Nanu still on the roof, looking back up at him. He dives, rapidly losing altitude, the world rushing past him.

****

Nanu

He turns in the air and lands smoothly, crouching with his coat flaring out around him like a cloak. Very slowly he straightens, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

__

Damn.

She has no doubt that there is nothing on this earth like the man in front of her. If sheer presence can save the world, Neo's got everything under control. 

****

Neo

"Cool," she grins. "But I might need some practice before I can do that."

He says nothing, just looks at her. Her jeans, brown boots and grey jacket are the same she was wearing on the night of her unplugging, and the same she's worn in every simulation since. Her hair is still in a braid.

"What?" she says. "You're staring."

"I just thought you would have changed by now. I mean your clothes."

"Why?"

"Are you going to wear the same things forever?"

"Course not. But it's not exactly a high priority." Abruptly she turns away, walks to the edge of the roof. She pauses on the brink, looks back. Smiles.

And jumps.

She leaps out and up, and up, and up. Neo stares, his lips parted, as she soars above him, twisting and diving and moving through the air like she's been doing it all her life. Like it's natural.

"This is crazy," he mutters, and flies up after her.

****

Trinity

She comes on deck, sees Neo and Nanu in the chairs. She freezes. Slowly she walks up to Tank.

"What's going on?"

"She's going through the new Jump program."

Trinity grips the back of his chair.

"But we haven't run an auto through that yet."

"It's okay, Neo's in there."

But it's Neo she's worried about.

"How's she going?"

"Good. She's fine." Tank seems uncomfortable. Trinity doesn't know why.

****

Nanu

Memories swim through her vision, snatches of a lost life. _There should be arms around her now_, but there aren't. She files as easily as if she's Superman, and it's wonderful. Neo comes up beside her, but for an instant she almost sees someone else.

__

Raven.

Then it's gone. Part of her mind wrestles with the lies, but the rest just enjoys the ride, grinning at her teacher as he tries to catch up to her.

****

Trinity

She's in the galley, putting away dishes. Tod comes in and gets out a freshly washed bowl for lunch.

"You okay captain?" he asks, pouring slop. "Tank said you were worried."

"Did you test that program Tod?" she stacks mugs in the cupboard, three high.

"No." She looks up. He meets her eyes briefly. "I see your point."

There is about a minute of silence. Tod starts eating and Trin begins to mix a new batch of slop.

"I wonder what they're doing in there," he says suddenly. The words themselves are innocent, but there is something in his tone Trinity doesn't like.

"Meaning?"

"Nothing, just wondering. It can't take so long to jump from one building to another." He ducks his head, fiddling with his spork.

"Tod. Say what you mean."

"Haven't you noticed they're kind of . . . you know."

She forces herself to stay still.

"I found them once. In here."

She breathes slowly.

"I came in and they were just staring at each other."

__

He's blowing it out of proportion. What he's insinuating can't be true. Neo chose her because the physic thing showed up in her signature code . . . that's the only reason he sees her as special . . . there can't be any other reason.

"Whatever you saw Tod, was just the end of a conversation. Neo is training a new recruit. Nanu doesn't know anyone on this ship except him and Gavin.

"So I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm sure you're wrong. Now get back to work." She closes the lid of the slop canister with a bang. Tod leaves the galley.

****

Neo

Hours go by. He teaches her everything he knows, and is amazed and worried at how much she is able to do. She can move fast enough to dodge a bullet, run up and flip off the wall, and her aim with a gun is almost superhuman.

They walk for ages, Neo sometimes trying to explain how to will something to happen, only to find she can phrase it better than he can. Occasionally they bust into a sparring match, and Nanu lasts longer than most before being beaten.

***

"How are you doing all this?" he asks. "I've never known anyone else who could do this, only me."

"Well, I think it's mainly the physic thing than helps me ignore this," she replies, hands in her pockets as they walk through the park.

"Mainly? Is there anything else?"

"I think I've got part of your mind."

He stops, "What?"

"When you gave me the red pill, it was salty from your hand," Nanu explains hesitantly. "When we're in here, what I see is your mind, so I _guess_ your sweat on the pill was a _little_ bit of your mind. Not much, but enough to make ignoring this easier."

"Oh." He pulls up his sleeve to check his watch. "We'd better go now. There aren't any more revelations hiding in your pockets?"

"Not today."

"Tank," Neo says into nothing. "Get us out."

****

Nanu

She opens her eyes and light comes charging in. the click of the plug going back into it's holder thunders like a timpani in her head.

"My . . . God," she whispers, and gamely tries to sit up. She almost manages to pretend she's okay, but then she passes out and falls to the floor.

***

She wakes up in the infirmary, with Key standing over her.

"Are you sure you don't know?" she hears Neo whisper, outside her range of vision.

"I can't find anything wrong with her, she _should_ be fine."

"Key - " Nanu's voice is small but she catches the medic's attention.

"What is it?"

"The run tomorrow - "

"The run _today_ Nanu, you were out for ages. And anyhow there's no way you're going in like you are."

"No," she raises her head, ignoring the pain squeezing her temples like a vice. "Key, once I jack-in I'll be fine - "

"Nanu, you are not going on a run in your condition," Neo moves to where she can see him. "We're not going to risk - "

"Dammit." Nanu sits up, swings her legs over the bunk edge. "Look, I'll be okay, just let me jack-in - "

"No Nanu."

" - or I'll follow you anyway."

He covers his eyes with his hand, then runs it over his hair to rub the back of his neck as he looks at her.

"Trin is going to kill me . . . " he mutters, and shakes his head. Key looks from one to the other, frowning. Neo sighs.

"God damn you Nanu. Alright."

***

Next chapter - _First Run_.


	9. First Run

Nanu's Story - First Run

****

Nanu

She stands in the construct, her head no longer hurting. Trinity is still being set up, and Neo isn't here yet. Nanu looks around aimlessly, then pauses. Her clothes have changed. She wears a fawn sleeveless top under a sharp three-quarter grey jacket, and her black jeans sit low on her hips, flaring out over her knee-high Airwalk boots. Her dark hair is up, no longer in a messy braid. She allows herself a smile.

__

Cool.

Another breath in the silence. Trinity is in.

"I can't believe Neo is letting you run this early."

"Neither can I."

A third breath, Neo. He pulls out his mobile and orders, "The usual Tank."

Racks of weapons turn up out of nowhere, and Neo tosses her a holster set to buckle on.

"Remember your firearms training Nanu?" Trin asks, strapping on a knife belt.

"Yes."

"Pray you won't have to use it."

***

They're in a small, dim room. A black rotary phone is ringing insistently. Neo moves forward, picks it up.

"We're in," he confirms. Nanu checks her watch. It's five to seven. There is a clunk as Neo cradles the receiver.

"You two wait here, I'm going out the front. I'll call you when Biosa comes."

Trin nods and he leaves, silent as a fading shadow.

And the room is loud in quiet.

"He ran you through the jump yesterday, didn't he?"

"Yes, captain." Why the title?

"And what happened?"

Nanu shrugs, nervous. "I ignored it, nothing happened." There is suddenly something different about Trinity. She's even more alert, even more guarded. Clad all in black leather, she looks once more like the woman who held a gun to Nanu's head. She's dangerous.

"That program had never been tested before. Did you know that?" her voice is cold.

"No," (captain).

"I don't hold it against you, but it worries me that Neo should risk himself for you."

That fear again, fear for Neo. "Risk? I don't understand."

"Anything could have happened. There could have been a glitch in the program, it could have stalled; any number of things could have gone wrong. You, or Neo, could have been killed."

Nanu doesn't say anything. What can she say to something like that? Trinity leans against the wall, folding her arms.

Dismissed.

Nanu goes to the window. She stands in quiet for a minute, feeling what the Matrix tells her. It's cool, and she can hear traffic from a few blocks away. This part of the City is old, dirty, and halfway to forgotten. She used to be scared, yet fascinated, by this type of place, where things are different and the rules are strange. But she'd always been too timid to seek them out.

Leaving home that night had been the most daring thing she had ever done in her sheltered and cowardly life.

How long ago was that? A week? A month? Forever?

Trin's cell phone rings. She clicks it open, listens. In the quietness Nanu can hear Neo's voice.

"We're coming up."

Trinity pockets the phone and pushes herself away from the wall. "In here."

They move into another room where four red leather armchairs are arranged facing each other.

"Do you often meet people like this?" Nanu asks.

"Almost never."

There are only a few moments for Nanu to take in the room; torn wallpaper, red velvet curtains, cold empty fireplace with a dim mirror above the elaborately dusty mantelpiece. The place is like a castle now gone to ruin.

The door opens as Neo comes in with another woman. Biosa has light brown hair and eyes, and a sharp expression. She's about thirty, Trinity's age.

"Hey Trinity," she says, not taking her eyes from Nanu. "And who the hell is this?"

"This is the newest addition to the resistance," Neo says quietly. "This is Nanu."

"You're Biosa." Nanu buries her hands in her pockets.

The woman doesn't answer and instead sits down. After a split second of awkwardness, Neo and Trinity follow suit. Nanu moves to the window and stands with her back to the room. Biosa's cold shoulder bruises.

"Would you mind telling me what this is all about?" the other captain sounds annoyed.

"We're worried," Neo begins, "about how you were caught yesterday."

"I figured it was a coppertop tip-off, no big deal."

"But there is the possibility there is a traitor on your crew."

"What? Are you crazy? Who on my crew would - ?"

"That's what we thought about Cypher," Trinity's voice is very soft. "No one guessed he would do . . . what he did."

"I remember that," Biosa is quieter now. "But Cypher was only one. How long had the Resistance lasted without anyone defecting?"

"But it still happened," Neo again. "And we need to consider the possibility of it happening again. Are you sure there isn't any member of your crew who may regret choosing the red pill?"

"No - "

"Think about it."

"Of course not Wren or Cadel, they're Zion-born. Radar I've known for eight years - "

"I knew Cypher for nine."

"Dammit Trinity, this isn't easy. I trust these guys okay?" her words come out in an angry rush. "Now you're telling me one of them has done a Judas and I have to suspect them all - "

"Look Biosa, it may not be like that, but it's a possibility." Neo tries to calm her down, after a breath he changes the subject. "Are you still going forward with Wraith?"

"Yes," Bios runs a hand through her short hair. "I was going to contact her this afternoon or tonight. She's at work right now."

"Do you want to check on her? Just for interest's sake?"

"Sure, if you've got the time." She stands as Nanu turns around. "This your first run kid?"

"Yes."

"So you're doing some sight-seeing?"

"I wouldn't put it like that," and Nanu follows Trinity out the door before Biosa can say anything else.

***

They pile into an old black sedan parked in the loading dock, Biosa in the front seat, Trinity driving.

Nanu looks out the window as they go, seeing shops, office blocks, cafes . . .

So many people, just living one day to the next with no thought of the broader scheme of things. Most of them don't even wonder what it means to be alive.

She finds herself thinking of Noah. She'd talked to him a lot, he'd almost been a friend, even though she had never known his real name or even what country he lived in. other names come to mind, people she's known from sci-fi and fantasy sites all over the net. People whose faces were the letters of their aliases; bish, Lexi, hellraiser. People whose expressions were no more than semicolon winks and parenthesis grins. ;) 

All of them are gone now. She wonders if she'll ever talk to any of them again. She wonders if any of them will ever be unplugged.

The car slows and Trinity pulls over; "We're here."

They get out of the car one by one. Nanu looks around. The world seems murky and green, and everything moves in slow motion, sluggish and very unreal.

"Come on Nanu," she turns to follow Neo, and has to look again. His hair is longer, and he has a shadow of a beard along his jaw. He has altered his appearance to avoid being recognised. His unkempt look is now at odds with his sharp black coat. It's hard not to smile.

The four of them walk down the footpath, single file with Biosa in the lead and Trinity at the back. Suddenly Biosa stops in front of an office building entrance, she moves into the foyer and pauses just inside the glass doors. Nanu stays close to Neo, trying not to look suspicious. People in suits with briefcases move about with a kind of urgency, although they don't seem to accomplish much. Nanu sees a young Asian woman leave one of the elevators and make her way to the door, carrying a large pile of manilla folders she has to deliver to someone important. Nanu can't help but notice she is very attractive.

"Is that her?" she asks Biosa.

"Yeah. That's her."

Wraith walks closer toward them on her way to the doors, her eyes on the floor and her mind somewhere else. 

"We should go," Neo murmurs. 

They follow her out into the street, turning right toward the car as the woman turns left. As Nanu opens the car door, she sees Wraith pause and look over her shoulder. It seems their eyes meet. Then the girl ducks into the old sedan and the rebels are gone.

***

They drop Biosa off at the exit, a payphone in a narrow side street. When she's gone, Neo looks to Nanu, he's now dropped the disguise.

"So, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"The Matrix." When he says it the words have colour, shape. Power.

"I can't believe I believed it for so long. It's scary how many people are in here."

"Do you want to leave now?"

"Yes." Anxiousness crawls at the back of her neck. They've been here for too long.

Trin pulls out her cell phone and calls Tank to set up their exit. Neo leans on the bonnet of the car with her. They talk, stiltedly, about Biosa's tracing.

Nanu moves away, down the street. Sounds come to her of distant traffic, growling motors and beeping horns. The sounds of blood flowing through the veins of the City.

She checks her watch, 9 am. The morning air is cool and shadows fill the alley. It feels a lot later than 9 am.

The payphone rings, and she turns around. Neo is waving for her to come and get it, he hold the receiver in his hand. Suddenly he freezes, and Trinity yells,

"Nanu, _run_!"

Stupidly, Nanu looks behind her. A tall man in a dark brown suit is moving quickly toward them from the other side of the main street.

An Agent!

She sprints forward as Neo grabs Trin's arm. He holds the phone to her ear and she dissolves in a glimmer like mercury.

"Faster!" he calls, and Nanu grits her teeth.

Not real not real not real not real not real NOT REAL!

She catches up to Neo, he takes her hand and they take off.

Wind tears as they slice through the sky. Nanu hears bullets erupt from the street below and they whistle shrilly past her as Neo swoops to dodge them, then they go up again. They land atop the MMI building, Neo smoothly on his feet and Nanu stumbling, falling, rolling with the momentum then climbing to her feet.

Neo pulls out his mobile, punches the speed dial.

"Tank, we need out fast, we're on the corner of State and Crown," a pause, "Can you get the Balboa subway open?" he swears at the negative reply, then listens. "Right." He shoves the phone away then reaches for her hand. "Franklin and Eirie, you okay to go?"

"I'm fine."

Fingers interlace and they're off again.

****

Trinity

She paces, restless and worried, back and forth behind Tank as he gives a running commentary.

"They're coming through the back of the shop, back office, Nanu's got the phone, she's out." He nods to Achi who hits a button on Nanu's screen then pulls her plug. Nanu doesn't move.

"Neo's out."

Trinity is already at his side, she touches the supplement drive button and Neo's eyes snap open. She eases the plug out of his head, unbuckles his feet, and lowers the chair as he sits up.

"Nanu?" he asks.

"She's out of it," Achi check's the girl's pulse. "Fainted."

"That's twice now," Neo stands carefully. "Take her back to the infirmary. Tank, you'd better get Key." The two Zion-born leave, Achi carrying Nanu.

"Why did you get me out first?" Trinity asks, folding her arms. Neo shrugs, uncomfortable.

"You were close to the phone."

"And I can't fly."

He looks away.

"Just warn me next time, okay?"

"You're not angry?"

"Of course I'm angry," she hears her voice drop several degrees. Tense, she paces, stalking back and forth in the confined space. "Do you know how much I hate you being in there without me? I know you can do whatever you want but I can't help being worried about you." He opens his mouth to speak but she raises her hand to cut him off. She speaks quietly, so that no one else can possibly hear her.

"Nothing you can say can make me feel any different. I just wish this war were over. And you are the most important thing in deciding who's going to win." She stops. "You know that."

"Yes I know that," he speaks in monotone.

"And once Nanu comes round she has to finish her training. She doesn't even know how Agents work yet."

"Alright," he avoids her gaze.

"And, thank you Neo."

"What for?" he looks up.

She gives him the faintest smile; nothing more than a warming in her eyes. There is silence on the empty deck. Trin reaches out, touches his cheek.

"For saving my life again." Then she turns and leaves.

***

__

Coming soon - The Infirmary


	10. The Infirmary

Nanu's Story - The Infirmary

****

Gavin

Days go by. Life on the Neb continues much the same. But Nanu remains in the infirmary, unconscious. Key is perplexed. An unofficial vigil is kept; the medic, himself, Neo or (rarely) Trinity keeping watch over the rookie.

He comes down the hall and into the small bright room, to change places with Neo. The man is sitting on the second bunk, legs folded, watching Nanu. Gavin pauses in the doorway, unnoticed. He looks at his captain.

Joint captain really. Whenever they are on a run in the Matrix, Neo is indisputably in charge, but Trinity has over fifteen years experience in the real world, while Neo has barely four. On the ship, she is the captain.

The man on the bunk folds his arms, seeming cold. The sleeves of his shirt are stretched, too long, and all his clothes are too big. Neo is tall, but thin, and his baggy clothes make him appear thinner. As Gavin sees him now, he looks human, not the dark angel in his black coat, but a man, wrapped up in a thin grey blanket against the cold.

"Hey," Gavin comes in and Neo looks up.

"I've been thinking," he says.

"About what?" Gavin has become accustomed to Neo's way of launching into an idea or conversation.

"Nanu. About why she's unconscious like this. And about what she said last time."

Gavin knows his line, "What did she say last time?"

"She said if she jacked-in she'd be fine, that her head wouldn't hurt. And she was right. She was walking around in the Matrix like she'd never passed out. But now there's this," he makes some helpless gesture toward the girl's sleeping form.

"So?"

"So I was wondering what would happen if she was jacked-in now."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"Key wouldn't allow it."

"I meant theoretically of course." He unfolds his legs, dangles his feet over the bunk. "What do you think would happen, anyway?"

"Make it worse."

"Why?"

"The first time she fainted and woke up about ten hours later. Then she jacked-in, and now she's been out of it for almost four days."

Neo gives the shadow of a smile. "Why is it that everyone talks me out of these dumb ideas?"

Gavin doesn't answer. There's really nothing to say.

Neo slides off the bunk, "What time is it?"

"Three p.m., Matrix City Standard time."

"My shift on Matrix watch then." He moves slowly for the door, clapping Gavin on the shoulder in passing. "Keep an eye on Sleeping Beauty."

"I will."

"Yell for Key if she wakes up."

"I will."

One last smile, then he goes. Gavin walks to the bunk and finds the warm spot Neo just left. And he settles down to watch Nanu, whispering song lyrics to keep himself awake.

__

If I give up on you, I give up on me

If we fight what's true, will we ever be?

Even God himself and the faith I knew

Shouldn't hold me back, shouldn't keep me from you

Tease me by holding out your hand

Then leave me or take me as I am 

And live on lies, stigmatised . . .

****

Nanu

__

She opens her mind. Neo has left, some time ago; Gavin is in his place. It's late . . . and he's fallen asleep.

She opens her eyes, slowly. The fluoro tubes are out, only a small globe above the door glows with a soft blue light. All is quiet. Gavin lies on his back on the other bed, his hands folded over his stomach.

Nanu sits up carefully. The pain in her head is faint, barely noticeable. Her clothes have been changed, probably for ease of examination. She now only wears a dark singlet and her trousers; her boots have been removed. She's got an IV plugged into her wrist again, the jacks in her arms glint in the light. She's still not quite used to them. She pulls out the IV.

Why did she pass out like that? Is it because she flew?

Every time she's ignored the program, or changed it dramatically, it's been at the cost of a splitting headache. The second and third time's it's been so bad she passed out.

Nanu's not sure why.

__

Headache . . .

Does it hurt to think that hard? To wrestle and defeat and ignore and change the rules? That would make a strange kind of sense.

But she knows that it _shouldn't_ hurt.

A feeling, something like déjà vu, like when she had remembered what the Matrix was, _washes over Nanu. She remembers that at one time, she had been capable of anything. And it hadn't hurt._

No . . .

That's not quite right.

Someone else had been the powerful one, but she'd been so close to him/her that she'd shared the feeling/gift. Like flying in the arms of superman. The two people/souls are so close they blur and Nanu cannot tell which one is which or which one she was. It's damn confusing.

The strange memories fade as she hears Gavin stir. But he's still dreaming.

She keeps her mind closed to him, still regretting the last time she spied. After seeing the memory of his brother, it had been days before she could look him in the eyes. He'd known something was wrong but hadn't asked what.

His breathing quickens and his face changes as she watches him slowly wake up. He seems to age.

When he opens his eyes he looks at the ceiling. He blinks, and a frown crosses his face, like he's wondering why he's not in his room. Then he turns his head and sees her sitting up.

"You all right?" he asks.

"I'm fine."

"That's good."

"You're tired," she can see it in the shadows under his eyes.

He shrugs. His clothes make sshhing noises against the bunk mattress. "I don't sleep well."

"Why not?"

Sshhrug. "I don't know."

A pause. She decides to change the topic.

"Have you ever been to Zion?"

"A few times."

"Did you like it?"

"S'ok. It's big, lots of people. It's like being inside an ant's nest, with everyone going everywhere with a dozen things to do. It's easy to get lost in there."

"Are there more Zion-born that there are Jacks?

"It's about equal, but there are obviously more Jacks who work on ships or with them." He yawns.

"What sort of things do they have in the city?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like," she spreads her hands. "Does Zion have things a Matrix city would have, like bars? Or shops?"

"There are soup kitchens for food, and just about everything else you could need, from clothes or furniture to equipment, is bartered at the traders'. There's a war on, there's always been a war on. There's a different mentality in Zion than anywhere in the Matrix . . . " he fades out into another yawn, putting one hand over his mouth. There is a sudden, 'tock' sound and he says, "Ow."

"What?"

"My jaw just popped."

Nanu laughs.

"Why is that so funny?" his green eyes slit at her in mock annoyance.

"Nothing, it's so normal it's weird."

"You're weird."

She smiles sweetly and he smiles back, then looks away. They say nothing for a few minutes. Gavin's eyes drift closed. Nanu can hear his breathing; he's asleep again.

She allows her mind to relax, curling up on her bunk. And she falls asleep watching him.

***

Okay, that was short, but the next one's longer, I promise.


	11. More Training

Nanu's Story - More Training

****

Nanu

She wakes up again.

Another artificial dawn. Gavin sleeps on. She wonders what woke her.

"Good morning," says a soft voice. Nanu rolls over and sees Achi in the doorway. "You hungry?"

"Yes," Nanu sits up slowly. The air doesn't seem as cold as it did on her first morning. Achi passes over her boots, and Nanu slips into them. She pulls up her socks, then tightens and clips down each buckle of the boots from her knees to her ankles. The baggy trousers go over the top.

They leave the infirmary quietly, Gavin oblivious to their actions.

***

"You're not asking anything," Nanu says to Achi as they eat breakfast.

"If you have anything to tell me, you'll tell me."

Nanu smiles. "There aren't enough people in the world like you."

They eat without speaking. The only sounds are the hum of the steam drier and the clunk of spork against bowl.

"If I knew myself what happened, I'd tell you," Nanu sighs, thinking of her rememberings. "But I can't seem to make sense of anything."

***

Key intercepts them on their way to the Main Deck, and does an impromptu examination in the corridor. She plugs a gadget into the plug in Nanu's upper arm, shines a light in her eyes, runs her hands over Nanu's short spikes of hair and makes her say "Aahh."

When it's finished she looks baffled.

"I just don't get it. There's nothing wrong . . ." she trails off as she leaves for the infirmary to scan the data from Nanu's plug.

Achi shrugs, not knowing what Key's worried about. They continue up to the Main Deck.

***

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Tank smiles, on deck with Neo and Tod. Neo's in a program. Tod doesn't look at her.

"What's he doing?" Nanu asks Tank.

"Sparring, I'll get him out."

"No," she moves to a chair, "Send me in where he is."

***

He's fighting. Opponents come at him, five, six at a time. Again, again, he beats them, moving so fast he blurs, but they only disappear for an instant before returning. Six near identical men in dark brown suits.

Agents.

Nanu hesitates at the entrance. This simulation is an old, abandoned subway. Piles of wood and concrete rubble litter the platform and tracks. Faded posters for alcohol and computer companies are stuck haphazardly on the walls.

Then one Agent is on the ground, two, then three. Neo's guns sound again, and another falls. Within seconds there is another shot, then he throws the last Agent into the wall where it flops to the ground, neck broken.

Neo stands still in the sudden hush. All in black, made grey by cement dust, he is so still Nanu almost cannot see him in the shadows.

"Neo?"

"Nanu?" he bursts into movement and runs down the platform to where she stands by the stairs. "You're okay?"

"I'm fine, but you're not."

He goes quiet again.

"Why are you in this program?"

"It's just practice - 

"Don't lie to me Neo. You don't need practice for this."

A pause. He half turns away, shoving his thumbs through his belt.

"I - " he breaks off. "Call it stress relief, whatever. I was worried about you, you've been unconscious for days and it was my fault, I took you on the run after all . . ."

He stops abruptly, turns back to her.

"I said all that aloud?"

She nods.

"I didn't mean to."

"Call it a very long Freudian slip."

"You didn't . . .?"

"No."

He shakes his head. "You have training to do."

***

The Agent training program is like a busy city street, a sea of humanity around Nanu and Neo.

"Every person you see here is an RSI. You know what that stands for?"

She dodges a businessman who is walking straight for her, and swerves to avoid being hit by a bride. "Residual self image."

"Which is projected by the carrier signal of the person in the power plant."

Neo glances over his shoulder as he talks, as he sweeps through the crowd. "And each and every person we have not unplugged is still connected to the Matrix this way."

People seem to make way for him. Nanu has to break into a run to keep up, skipping around two identical women in identical black suits who threatened to cut her off from Neo. "They are still a part of the system, and that makes them . . ."

Nanu tunes out for a second as a shoulder brushes hers. She turns as a girl in a tight red shirt and baggy faded jeans slips past her. She walks backward for a moment, looking at Nanu, and she has time to see her smile at her before Neo says

"Were you listening to me Nanu?"

She spins.

"Or were you looking at the girl in the red shirt?"

"I was - "

"Look again."

She turns, and in place of the good-looking girl is a man in a brown suit holding a gun to her head. A desert eagle, she remembers it from weapons training.

"Freeze it."

A hush falls. Nothing moves. Nanu cannot help but appreciate the detail taken by the programmer. This is almost exactly like the Matrix.

"Meet Agent Smith," Neo gestures to the man in the brown suit. "He's one of the six main models of Agent, a little outdated now, but still the most common. His 'colleagues' include Brown, Jones, Williams, Lang, and the newest, Cunningham."

Nanu puts her hands in her pockets and keeps listening.

"An Agent is a sentient program, like, and unlike a virus. They need a host to survive, but as far as we know they cannot duplicate themselves, at least, not yet."

"A host? You mean a person?"

"A coppertop. Anyone still plugged into the Matrix. The Agent hooks into their carrier signal like mistletoe on a tree, and the program overrides the human's RSI."

"So anyone who isn't yet unplugged is potentially an Agent?"

"Got it in one."

"You're the only one who can beat them?"

"I don't know . . ." the expression on his face finishes his sentence.

"Oh no," she whispers. She's seen how fast those things are. "You don't mean me."

"Agents can punch though concrete walls. I've shot entire clips at them and they've dodged every single bullet. But their strength and speed are defined by the rules and limits of the Matrix. Those rules don't apply to me because I'm the One. But you're the next best thing."

"No way. No way in hell am I going to fight that."

"Nanu, think about it - "

"No," she backs away. The Agent looks like the man that followed her that day in her other life, the day she'd found a worm in her apple at the train station. But she can't be sure.

"Really Nanu. Think for a second. If you can change and ignore the rules sufficiently to fly, you can do this. You'd need to practice of course, but I think you can do it."

She hesitates. "Practice? How?"

"That sim we were in before is the closest our programmers can come to Agents. It's usually used for rookies who don't understand how dangerous AI can be."

Nanu tries to breathe evenly. She sizes up the flat, expressionless face of Smith.

"Okay?" Neo asks.

"Okay. But not today or I'll be unconscious for a week."

"Pardon?"

"When I change anything in here, it hurts. Not so long as I'm jacked-in, but I have a headache once I'm out."

"Oh."

"So it wasn't your fault that I've been out of it. It was because I flew."

"Oh." To an extent, he looks relieved.

****

Trinity

About two weeks later, Trinity is in the operator's seat. She types in code, then jumps up from her chair and moves to where Nanu lies, jacked in. The girl opens her eyes with an intake of breath. Then quickly shuts them again.

"Are you okay?"

"Not exactly."

Carefully Trinity removes the plug and lowers the chair. Nanu sits up gingerly, rubbing her temples.

"I can't quite believe it."

"Believe what?" Nanu looks up.

"You just beat two Agents."

"Neo wants me to beat six or more."

"Well for now, I think two is enough." She helps Nanu up, trying to get her head around it. This sixteen-year-old girl was withdrawn only a few months ago, now she brushes off her win over two Agents. Saying it's not enough. 

__

Like someone else, who dodged all but two bullets, then shrugged, 'It wasn't fast enough.'

"I think you've learnt most of what these sims can teach you."

"Really?"

"Of course there's still everything you have to learn by hand. Mechanics; Achi will teach you the more practical aspects of how the ship works and how to repair it. Key will give you basic medical training - "

"That got downloaded - "

"Yet you have no practical experience. All you know now is theory."

Trinity swallows at the sudden crushed expression in Nanu's eyes. The girl just beat _two_ agents and she's upset because she doesn't know how to use a welder.

__

Jesus Christ.

"And Tod will help you in programming. You have to know everything when you're working on a ship, for example, if we lost Key and no one else had any medical training we'd be in real trouble. A jack has to be a . . . jack of all trades."

Nanu looks up quickly. A surprised smile tugs at her mouth.

__

Captain Trinity the machine just made a joke. I feel like an idiot.

But Nanu refrains from comment, only saying, "And here I was thinking I'd finished school."

"For your next run you've learnt enough." Slowly Trinity begins to walk toward the ladder. "I'll have to talk to Neo. I think you're ready to see the Oracle. She asked for you."

"Who is she exactly?"

"She's a coppertop, we think. She's a very old lady."

"Can she tell the future?"

__

What has she heard?

Breathe in, and consider. "I'm not sure. She tells us things that more often than not come true. But Morpheus always said she was a guide. She's more than a fortune-teller; she can help you, it doesn't matter if she can 'tell the future' or not."

****

Nanu

Morpheus again, she thinks. Although he's gone, he still has an effect on his ex-crew. Of which only three are left.

"Did you go to her?"

"Most people do sooner or later."

"What did she tell you?"

Trinity halts. Her face unreadable, she turns to Nanu.

"What did I say?" the girl asks, baffled.

"Neo said that. He asked me that."

"So?"

"No, I mean with the same intonation and everything."

Trinity's memory floods over Nanu, sudden and strong.

****

Trinity

The tone of those words sends her momentarily back four years, until she is almost there -

But Trinity snaps out of reverie as Nanu closes her eyes suddenly, and folds to her knees.

**__**

Nanu/Trinity

She's sitting in a car. The world is dim through her shades. They are driving through the City; Neo is in the backseat on her left, looking out the window.

"I have these memories from my life," halfway through a thought he turns to her.

(He looks very much the same as he does in the present, perhaps a little softer, a little smoother. His eyes are open and wide and dark; they have none of the mercury depth Nanu has seen in them when he controls the Matrix. This is a long while ago. He is not yet the One.)

"None of them happened." He searches her face for an answer. "What does that mean?"

"That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are."

"But an Oracle can?"

"That's different."

He raises his hand, rubs the back of his neck.

(It's a familiar gesture.)

"Did you go to her?"

Trinity looks out her window. Breathe in, "Yes."

"What did she tell you?"

She looks back. Scans his open gaze from behind her polaroid shields. "She told me . . . "

(Then the whirlwind of association pulls her deeper into another memory.) 

***

(Author's Notes: I've had comments about Nanu quoting the movie. It may sound weird, but there _is_ a reason she repeats Morpheus' words.

The lines in italics are thoughts. I believed I'd finally made non-schizophrenic characters but it seems that I was wrong.

__

Again.

I know this is an annoying place to cut the chapter off, but I promise you'll have more by New Year. I swear on the grave of my . . . budgie.)


	12. Trinity and the Oracle

Nanu's Story - Trinity and the Oracle

****

Nanu/Trinity

"Why exactly did you choose the name Trinity?"

"I . . . " she wraps her hands tighter around her coffee mug. The clock ticks loudly in the small apartment. Sun beams light up the kitchen where the Oracle and the young woman sit at the table.

(Trinity is nervous, feeling out-of-place in torn black jeans and singlet. Nanu can feel the tensing of muscle in her shoulders. A passenger in Trinity's head, she watches and listens.)

"I'm not sure," her voice is young, green.

(How old? Seventeen. She doesn't really want to be here, she doesn't trust the Oracle.)

Deep breath in, "I guess I've always felt like there are three parts of me."

"What do you mean by that?" The Oracle looks like a grandmother or great aunt, in a blousey dress and floral apron.

"Like," Trinity fidgets. "There's the part that was me, that _was_ living the life of Linda Brandon. Then there's the part that wanted to get out of the Matrix. The part that's really strong, that never lets anything show," words tumble over each other in a rush to be said, "And that's the soldier, the fighter. It's not anything like the first part that feels things."

"And the third?"

"Is missing."

"Missing?"

"Uh, yeah. I feel like there's a part of me I haven't found yet."

The Oracle lifts her cup, takes a sip of tea. Trinity has a mouthful of coffee. It's made just the way she likes it, strong, with the slightest hint of sugar in the aftertaste.

"Do you believe in love?"

Trinity coughs and swallows quickly before coffee comes out her nose. "What?"

"Do you believe in love?"

"I don't know - "

"I think you do know Trinity. Answer the question." The Oracle sets down her cup, knits her fingers together.

"I . . . "

She waits.

"If I had to say either yes or no then yes, but - "

"But you don't believe it can happen to you, am I right?"

"What has this got to do with anything?"

"You know what Morpheus is looking for."

Trinity exhales. The Oracle dodges from one idea to another, not seeming to make any sense.

"Yes, I know. He is looking for the One."

"And what is your opinion of that?"

She shrugs. "I hope he finds him."

"Do you believe he will?"

"I don't know."

The Oracle gets up from the table and moves to the cupboard behind her. She lifts something down - a plate? No. A wide, shallow bowl made of silver.

"What's this?"

She doesn't answer, but places the bowl in the middle of the table. Lifting the coffee jug, the Oracle pours the dark liquid into the dish. Trinity watches, momentarily entranced by the way the coffee flows in rivers around the curves of the silver, then slows and settles into a black lake.

"Stand up Trinity."

The girl stands, pushing the chair to one side. The sunbeams are less, the kitchen suddenly dim.

"Look into the bowl. Don't think of anything but your name."

"My name?"

"Look into the bowl."

(Power surges into the room. Patterns form, unravel and reform. The lines and shapes blur then refocus sharply. Nanu stares through Trinity's eyes at the dark mirror. She listens to her silent voice.)

__

. . . Trinity. My name is Trinity. Three parts of one being . . . where is the third part? . . .

An image fades into view on the surface of the mirror.

__

A young man. He has black hair and a serious expression, his brow furrowed as he sleeps at his desk with his head on his arms.

(Neo.)

Then his eyes open. Light brown. But that tint is almost yellow. Like the eyes of something wild.

He sits up slowly.

(Trinity sees nothing but the vision. The world is gone to her.)

He wears a dark T-shirt, it's loose, hanging askew at his neck. His skin is pale, and his dark hair falls in his eyes.

(This looks like Neo. But his hair is too long. Who is this?)

He focuses on something before him, frowning. He's reading what's on his computer screen, but Trinity cannot see it.

(Forms shift. Trinity sees one thing, but Nanu can see something else too, like a double image. One image is Neo, looking like he does now but a little younger. The other image looks almost identical, except he is younger still - late teens, and his black hair reaches his shoulders. Who is this?)

The picture fades. The world returns and Trinity leans heavily against the kitchen table, looking up at the Oracle.

"Who was that?"

"Your third part."

"What?" Gingerly she sits down. She feels shaky.

"You remember what Morpheus told you about the first One dying, then the prophecy that he will return?"

"Yes." Breathe slowly. Breathe.

"People live more than once. A soul can come back again and again, living life after life."

"Reincarnation?"

"Yes, but without the Karma aspect. Nobody comes back as a rat, not in this world anyway."

"What does this have to do with that man I saw?"

"You saw what you did because you've seen him before. In your past life, you rescued him from death. Souls live different lives every time, but some souls meet again and again. You will know him, because you knew him before."

"Who was he before?"

(But she already knows the answer.)

"The name he was given was Kenneth Jackson. The name he chose was Raven."

"The One."

"Yes. The One."

"I'm going to meet the One?"

"More than that Trinity. He is the missing part of you. Your soul knows his."

Instinct says to scoff. Habit says to brush this off as ridiculous and sappy. But something in her throat catches. Broken pieces fit back together and Trinity hides her face in her hands. This doesn't make any sense. She can still see his face.

Your soul knows his.

Pain. This hurts.

An arm around her. Scent of old lady and cigarettes. Words.

"It's alright Trinity. It's alright."

Swallow. Swallow your pride and drown. Don't cry. Never cry.

"Get up, come on, up." Gently she is pulled to her feet. She looks down at the old lady, gritting her teeth to keep back what wants to come out. 

"He's not going to know who he is, Trinity. He won't realise."

Focus. Focus on the words.

"His is an old soul but he doubts. He always did. You've helped him before and you'll have to help him again."

"How am _I_ supposed to know who he is?"

"You'll know. He is to you what no other can be. The two of you . . . " she picks her words carefully. "Your souls are . . . close. Believe me, you'll know. There'll be a point when you'll be sure. Fear will go and you'll remember."

"Remember what?" Trinity stares.

But the old lady doesn't answer. She pulls a note from her apron pocket and hands it to her. "This is for Morpheus. There's a girl I'd like to see withdrawn, if the Neb can take her. Apoc should look after her. Now go, you'll be late."

"But - "

"Go. Watch your back."

****

Nanu

She opens her eyes. She's lying on the floor of the Main Deck in the recovery position.

"Are you alright now?" Trinity asks her. Nanu is surprised by the thirty-odd year old voice. She sits up slowly.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You just collapsed, was it the program?"

"No. I think it was you."

"A memory?"

"Yeah, look Trinity I'm sorry - "

"Which one?"

"Your meeting with the Oracle."

"Then it wasn't your fault."

__

What?

"I've never told anyone about that day. But I wanted somebody to know what I . . . felt."

Trinity knots her hands together. Nanu doesn't dare move. This is the first person of the trinity talking, the one who feels things. She has a passing thought of how childish this must look, like two girls cross-legged in the playground, sharing secrets.

The woman looks up. Nanu is struck by how young she seems, black hair falling in her light blue eyes. This is not the soldier.

"I wanted somebody to know, but I never knew how to say it. I guess I knew you'd understand more than anyone else could."

"Maybe Neo would. Maybe you should tell him, so he knows - "

"That doesn't matter."

"How can it not matter?"

"Neo is the One." Trinity raises a hand and brushes the hair off her face. The soldier is back. "That means his first priority is us winning this damn war. When it's my 'feelings' for him versus the future of humanity then my feelings don't seem quite so important."

Nanu risks a smile. "Well when you put it like that . . . "

Trinity gets up, holds out a hand and pulls Nanu easily to her feet.

"At least you know now."

Nanu shrugs, "A problem shared is a problem halved, I guess."

"Depending on who it's shared with."

She looks up and meets Trinity's eyes. She sees the captain smile, nothing more than warmth in the ice of her gaze. Something connects.

"I believe you have passed my 'test', or whatever." Trin rests a hand on Nanu's arm. "Thankyou."

Nanu smiles back. And suddenly her headache and bruises don't matter any more. She feels right as rain.

***

She can't sleep. She's nervous. Tomorrow she's going to go see the Oracle.

She's going into the Matrix again.

Nanu really hopes they don't meet any Agents. She's more worried for the rest of the crew than for herself; they can't beat Agents. Gavin can't just fly away. Neo can of course, and he believes she can.

"What's going on here?" she whispers, rolling onto her back with her hands behind her head. Carefully she lets barriers, listens. Selectively.

Asleep. Each and every one of them, excepting Achi on watch.

Nanu rubs her eyes, opens and closes them. It makes no difference it's so dark.

"Goddamn insomnia."

She pulls the blanket closer and curls against the wall. Tries to think happy thoughts. Trinity's hand reaching down to pull her up. Neo laughing. Gavin's face, serene as a marble angel as he sleeps. The girl from the Agent training sim, with that red shirt and smile, honey blonde hair falling like a curtain as she turns slowly . . .

Happy thoughts.

****

Neo

Lights flicker and buzz. He opens his eyes. Trin stirs, and he sits up slowly. Their shared bunk is only regulation size, so each of them only have half the normal space, but neither of them mind.

"Is it morning?" she asks softly.

"Yes."

"Damn, I was having a really good dream."

"About?"

"Not telling."

"Why not?" he fakes a hurt expression.

"We'd never get out of here, that's why not."

He smiles, and her lips curve. A precious moment.

But Neo rolls out of bed and begins getting dressed. He pulls on trousers, then sits on the floor to put on his boots.

__

Alas, Reality calls.

Trinity sits up, combing her hair with her fingers. "We're going in today?"

"Yes."

"Has Biosa called back about her crew?"

"I got a message last night. She'd been busy with Wraith, they had some trouble arranging a meeting and she only came out last week."

"Trouble?"

"Agents kept turning up."

"What did Bios say?"

"That there was nobody she believes could have turned them in. She thinks there's a new model of Agent nobody knows about yet." For a second he pauses and just looks up at her sitting with her arms around her knees and her hair mussed. Blue eyes sharp and focussed.

"That could be true. You haven't noticed . . . ?"

"No, but I haven't been looking. It was Cunningham who caught us last time, but he's nothing amazing."

"Could he be upgraded?"

"I don't know."

Trin pushed back the blanket and gets up, taking two shirts from the locker above the bunk. Neo climbs to his feet and she hands him one.

"What time is it?"

He checks a bulky digital display hear the door. "0600 MCS time."

"Zion knows when we're going in?"

"Yes, but I don't know who else is in yet."

"It'll be on the report."

"I'll see you on deck."

***

Neo hoists himself into the chair, swivelling around and pulling a keyboard closer. Tapping quickly, he finds Zion's report and brings it up on a side screen.

Three ships are doing runs today, but the Solomon isn't one of them. The Endeavour is going in at 0900, the Lincoln at 1200, and the Dragonfly at 2030. Only the Dragonfly is going to the city. The Endeavour is a foreign ship, working (today) in Germany. Not a single member of that crew has English as their first language, but all of them speak at least three languages. The Lincoln is just scouting (Australia) in the interest of finding new targets.

Neo smiles. Scouting missions are interesting, if bittersweet. Unofficially, scouting missions are known as goofing off time in the Matrix. Under strict surveillance, crewmembers are allowed about ten minutes of fun.

It is the strangest feeling, he remembers, walking through a world that has forgotten you. Since he was unplugged, new games have been made, new technology developed, new music written, new wars waged. Of course he knows of these things; in order to interact with rookies sailors are encouraged to keep up with popular culture. But it's strange not being there when those things happen around him in his old world.

In Thomas Anderson's world.

Trinity comes up onto the deck, bearing a tin mug.

"Slop for your thoughts," she smiles the tiniest bit as she gives it to him.

"I was thinking we ought to take Nanu on a scouting run sometime. We haven't been out of the city for a while. And she's never travelled."

"And I'm sure this is purely for Nanu's education."

He smiles sheepishly. "You know me too well."

"Where did you have in mind? Europe?"

"Further south actually, maybe Sydney."

"Not in summer."

"Perhaps later then."

"What time are we going in?" They jump at the sudden sound of Nanu's voice, Neo almost spilling his breakfast.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry, when are we going in?"

"0730."

Nanu hooks her thumbs through her belt, sighs heavily and turns to leave.

"Nervous are you?" Trinity asks.

The girl turns full circle.

"Hell yes."

***

(Author's notes. If anyone disagrees with the religious aspect of this story, sorry. The movie depends on the idea of reincarnation, and so does this story. Neo had a past life, so other people do as well.

I'm also aware that Trinity is horribly OOC. But this Oracle scene is twelve years before the movie, and people can change in that amount of time.)


	13. Nanu and the Oracle

Nanu's Story - Nanu and the Oracle

****

Nanu

The Oracle lives in an apartment block just outside the city centre. The crew is split up; Tod and Key waiting near their exit, Gavin and Trinity are waiting in the lobby, and Nanu is following Neo into the lift.

He presses the button for the ninth floor. The doors rattle shut.

"Is this the same Oracle you saw?"

"Yes. She's very old."

"How old?"

He shrugs. "I don't know actually, but she's been around since the Resistance began."

"How much does she know?"

"Enough."

"And what she says is always right?"

"What she says is not as important as your reaction to what she says."

"Meaning?"

The doors open and Neo sweeps through giving her no answer but a small smile. She sighs and follows him down the hall. Neo stops outside a door and turns back to her.

"This is it."

The door opens suddenly and a young woman in a white dress is standing there.

"Welcome Nanu. You're right on time."

***

The Oracle's home is small, bright, and old fashioned, the predominate colours being orange and green. Nanu is shown to the living room.

"You can wait here," the priestess says, then she wafts away. Neo is gone.

Nanu looks around the room, taking note of a bookshelf, an old sofa, a black and white TV, and a glass cabinet fillet with china cats.

There are also several kids. Two girls are sitting on the yellow carpet, tossing a ball back and forth between them. But they're not using their hands. A boy is cross-legged on the sofa, mending a broken ornament. As Nanu watches, he lifts one piece and fits it with another, the runs his thumb along the join. The hairline crack vanishes like it never was. Hearing young voices from another room, Nanu half turns - 

Suddenly the ball comes flying in her direction. Without thinking she reacts and catches it.

"Careful!" the boy frowns at the girls. "You'll break something else soon."

They only laugh, and one girl looks to Nanu. "Wanna play?"

"How?"

"Just throw it with your mind."

"You mean, to change the code?"

"No," the boy shakes his head. "It's simpler than that. Only try to realise the truth."

"What truth?"

He smiles as if at some private joke. "There is no spoon."

The older girl laughs again, "You're confusing her Jonah. What he means is, all you have to do is realise that this isn't real, and you can bend the rules."

"I thought only Neo could do that."

"That's why we're here," says the younger girl. "We used to be called Potentials. They thought one of us might have been the One. But they were wrong, we just know more than other coppertops."

"You're not unplugged?"

"No," all three say in unison.

"So you live here?"

"We have nowhere else to go," Jonah shrugs. "According to the Matrix authorities we don't even exist."

"Are you going to play or not?" the girl asks.

Nanu hesitates, then tosses the ball to her.

"Cheat, you used your hands."

A hand on Nanu's shoulder makes her jump. The priestess is back.

"The Oracle will see you now."

***

Nanu walk quietly into the kitchen. The Oracle is standing at the bench, making coffee. The turns her head as Nanu is about to announce herself.

"I know you're Nanu." Her voice is husky. A smoker's voice. "Coffee dear?"

"Uh, yes thankyou." The smell wafts around her as Nanu watches the Oracle push down the plunger. Her RSI is craving caffeine in any shape or form, but if this tastes like it smells . . .

"Not quite what you expected right?" the old lady puts down two mugs and gestures for Nanu to sit at the table.

"I tried not to expect anything," she sits. "I figured that would make things easier."

"A wise decision." Steam curls as the coffee is poured, black and strong. Nanu takes a cautious sip; it's hot, and beautifully strong. She can practically feel the caffeine flood to her brain.

There is an awkward silence. The Oracle just watches her.

"You're different. I can understand why Neo got you out."

Nanu tries to think of an intelligent answer and fails.

"You can change things can't you?"

"Uh, yes."

The Oracle takes the spoon from her coffee, dries it on her apron then gives it to Nanu.

"Bend it."

Nanu holds the utensil in front of her, recalling Jonah's enigmatic advice, 'There is no spoon'. He's right. There isn't really. It's just lies, illusion.

The spoon warps and begins to bend, dipping over to one side. Light from the kitchen window glints and reflects off the metal in her hand.

Blink. The spoon is normal again.

"How did you do that?" the Oracle asks, as if she knows the answer already.

"I just remembered it wasn't real."

"Very good."

Nanu puts down the spoon and wraps her hands around her mug. "May I ask you something?"

The Oracle smiles, "I may not be able to answer, but ask away."

"Can you do what I do?"

"I have the Gift."

Nanu tries to work out if that was meant to be an answer or not.

"Now may I ask _you_ something?"

"Um, sure."

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Yes."

"What would you say if I told you that you'd lived before?"

"I'd want to know who I was."

"You need to see Morpheus," the Oracle looks up as the priestess appears in the doorway. "Could you fetch Neo for me please?"

She nods once then leaves, her floaty white dress trailing behind her.

Nanu takes another drink of coffee, still trying to work out what's going on. The Oracle smiles as Neo comes into the room, ducking under the wooden beads in the doorway.

"Ah, Neo. When are you scheduled to go to Zion?"

"Um, two weeks."

"May I suggest you go sooner? I'd like Nanu to see Morpheus."

"Uh, okay. Sure."

"How's Trinity by the way?"

"She's good."

The Oracle's smile widens indulgently. "I can hardly believe you've only just begun to talk after four years."

"We've talked - " he protests.

"Not enough." The Oracle turns back to Nanu. "I think Morpheus will be a very important figure in your story, be sure to see him soon."

"But - ?"

"Wait, I almost forgot. Hold out your hand." Nanu obeys and the only lady scrutinises her left palm, tracing the lines on the girl's skin. "Hmm. Interesting."

Nanu won't take the bait.

"You've got the Gift." Behind her, Nanu hears Neo inhale sharply.

"From Neo."

"No, this is in _your_ soul. You've definitely been here before," her eyes raise from Nanu's hand and fix on her face. The Oracle frowns, her gaze probing. "I almost remember you."

"What do you mean? Who was I?"

"Morpheus. He can help you.

"But - ?"

"Morpheus," she repeats. "And make sure to talk to Pirate when you meet him."

"Pirate?"

"Nanu," Neo checks his watch. "We have to go."

The Oracle stands, and Nanu gets up as well.

"Until next time kid," she smiles. Nanu gives a faint nod then follows Neo out of the kitchen.

Can you tell by now that I'm a caffeine addict?


	14. Getting Out

Nanu's Story - Getting Out

****

Nanu

Her mind is going into overload. If she were a computer she'd be on the verge of crashing.

What had the Oracle actually told her? Anything at all? She tries to sort through what was said.

The Gift. What the hell is the gift? Nanu guesses it's something to do with bending rules to a greater extent than others can do, like the Potentials. And Neo has that gift too.

But there's obviously more to being the One than altering the matrix.

Then there's the past life thing, and the fact that the Oracle knew her before. Did the gift come from whoever she was in her past life?

And that name Pirate is familiar.

"Isn't Pirate on Biosa's crew?" she asks Neo as they step out of the lift into the lobby.

"Yes, he's one of her younger crewmembers."

Nanu wants to ask more questions, but she can see by the set of his shoulders that now is not the time. Something about the Oracle has awoken troubling memories for Neo. She can hardly blame him; the woman predicted his death for crying out loud.

They meet up with Trinity and Gavin. Gavin looks curious, but nobody says anything. Trinity walks close to Neo, and every few steps their arms brush as if by accident. Nanu follows them as they leave the building and begins the few blocks walk back to the hotel, and Gavin follows after her.

__

. . . I can hardly believe you've only just begun to talk after four years . . .

What did the Oracle mean by that? Nanu remembers how they had slept at opposite ends of the ship and how Trinity hadn't known where Neo was hiding. Have these two been so immersed in the war that they haven't had time to spend with each other?

The main street is crowded for this time of morning. Almost unnaturally crowded. Nanu finds herself looking at faces as people move past her, they look straight ahead.

"Hey - wait!" comes a voice, it's Gavin; he's fallen behind. Automatically she stops. He comes jogging up to her, glancing around nervously.

"This is weird Nanu," he says quietly as they continue walking. "It's never so busy, and these people are freaking me out."

"_And_ we've lost the others," she cranes her neck and tries to walk taller. "I can't see them anywhere."

"We'll catch up to them. We know where they're going anyway." Gavin stays near her. Nanu is grateful for his presence, a shadow on her left-hand side.

Then she slows as a girl bumps shoulders with her, making her turn. She's walking backwards and smiling at her, a girl in a tight red shirt and faded jeans. Nanu frowns as she turns around again, and she wonders idly why there's a bride walking down the street -

Her blood runs cold and she swears. "Jesus Christ . . . Gavin!"

Too late. He staggers and falls and a split second later the sound of the gunshot registers in Nanu's ears. A desert eagle.

An Agent. She whirls as Cunningham slices through the crowd, shoving people left and right. Many people just keep walking, more than half this crowd isn't even real.

She runs to Gavin's side. The coppertops around them are either staring at the blood pooling under the young man in black or running away from Cunningham.

One Agent, she can fight one, maybe even two, but not in this public place where she may as well be fighting dozens. And not with Gavin bleeding . . .

__

. . . only try to realise the truth . . . Jonah's voice echoes in her head.

"There is no spoon." Nanu stoops and wraps her arms around Gavin. Blood from his chest flood over her hands, warm on her skin, and his head lolls.

Cunningham raises his gun but she stares at it - 

__

truth

- and it dissolves into nothing. She gets one knee under her, one foot on the ground, she holds Gavin tighter, then springs from the pavement and takes off.

"If there is a God you better not let me drop him," her teeth grit as her hair whips back from her face, and she lifts herself and Gavin above the crowd, higher, and then she's above a building and she can barely hold him any more.

He slides from her arms as her boots touch the concrete.

"Nanu . . . ?" his voice sounds thick and slow. The bullet went through his left side above the heart, and she has no way of knowing how serious it is.

"Shh, don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here."

The Lafayette is north of here, she scans the skyline. There.

Taking a deep, unreal breath, she picks up Gavin again and carries him from one building to the other. He is heavy, a dead weight.

No. Don't think like that.

She almost drops him on the Lafayette roof, but manages to hold him up against her and half carry, half drag him to the fire escape.

****

Neo

He and Trinity freeze at the sound of the gun. As Neo registers the lack of reaction in the people around him, he frowns, scanning their code.

Swearing, he grabs Trin's hand, "These people aren't coppers."

They move quickly and silently off the main street and down into a side alley and around behind the buildings. They're near where they picked up Nanu.

"Are they okay?" Trinity asks him.

"Gavin's been shot - but Nanu's got him," his eyes go out of focus, "They're on the Lafayette roof."

She gets out her phone and punches the control number as they begins to jog down the alley.

__

- Operator -

"Tank, make the call now."

__

- Gavin's hurt -

"We know, how bad?"

__

- Pretty bad, but if he can get out quickly he'll be okay. Where is he? I've lost him -

"At the exit with Nanu. Get them out and we'll be there soon. Call the others, they're still waiting."

__

- Yes ma'am -

She hangs up and looks at Neo where he lopes beside her.

"Are we being followed?"

"No, but every cop in the City is heading for the hotel. That Cunningham was definitely upgraded, I don't - "

She cuts him off. "Will we make it in time?"

"Barely."

****

Nanu

Gavin slumps as Nanu sets him down in the only chair. His eyes are open and he blinks, then lifts his head with a visible effort. Her arms are shaky and she breathes deeply.

"What happened?" he whispers.

"You got shot." Immediately she feels stupid. 

He smiles weakly. "Forrest Gump."

"What?" 

"It's a game. You say a line from a movie and I have to guess where it's from."

"Jesus Gavin, not now. Come on, I have to move you to the phone."

It's a little easier with him trying to help, but more awkward now he's alert. She wraps her arms around his chest and hauls him out of the chair. His head lolls on her shoulder and his arms go automatically around her neck. If he wasn't bleeding so much this wouldn't be so bad.

"I've always wanted to be in this position," he mutters, and she promptly swears at him.

"Shut up."

The phone is on a table against the wall. Nanu hoists Gavin up so he's partly sitting on it. She shrugs out of her jacket and begins to rip at one sleeve.

"Use my knife," he offers.

She pulls the short knife from a sheath on the inside of his combat boot, hacks off one sleeve of her coat and then tears that in half lengthways. Somehow she rolls the cloth up and presses it to his shoulder, front and back.

"Not exactly a field dressing but I'm not about to try change reality now."

"Good," he tries another smile. "Because in your state you'd turn me into a Venomous Knid."

"Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," she says automatically. "But that's a book, not a movie."

The phone rings, shattering something fragile. Gavin leans back, away from Nanu, as she lifts the phone for him.

But she freezes as he leans forward again, one hand on her shoulder, and kisses her briefly on the mouth.

"You know why I did that," his voice is a breath.

He's read the coding of when she told Neo how she had part of him mind. Oh God. She can taste Gavin's blood.

"Yes, I know." Then she raises the black plastic to his ear and watches him dissolve away.

As she replaces the receiver, Nanu sags against the table, bowing her head. Why did he have to do that? Why did he have to throw her even deeper into confusion?

Footsteps on the stairs, and the door opens. Key gasps at the blood all over Nanu. Tod stares.

The phone rings again.

"Gavin got shot Key, they'll need you."

The woman takes the phone and goes.

"You look whipped," Tod comments. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

The ringing phone is a harsh, jarring sound.

"It's for you," Tod says. Nanu hesitates at the hostility in his voice, but obeys and picks up the receiver.

~~~~~

As you may have gathered this is now _definitely_ not a Neo/OC fic. It's actually more about the OCs than it is about the movie characters, and gets a stronger focus on Nanu as time goes on. If you don't like that idea, I'm sorry, but it's the way it goes. I can't get into Neo's or Trinity's head as well as other authors can (you know who you are Hardliners!)


	15. Infirmary II

Infirmary II.

****

Nanu

"Will he be alright?"

Key puts away the last of her gadgets and begins to coil the wires she had plugged into Gavin's sockets. He is lying asleep on the infirmary bunk, his skin pale except for an ugly dark, dark bruise on the left side of his chest and shoulder. A white sheet is pulled up to his armpits.

"He had pretty bad internal bleeding, but aside from that and the bruise he should be fine."

Nanu turns to Gavin. He looks like he's been carved out of marble.

"Is the bruise from the bullet?"

"Yes, nasty isn't it, even though it wasn't real."

"Your mind makes it real."

"Sure thing Super-kid," Key holds out a hand, and directs Nanu's attention to the discoloured skin again. "You see that mark?" Where the bruise is darkest, there is a small irregularity in the skin, like a dimple, but deeper. "That's going to scar."

"Why?"

"God only knows, the effect of the mind on the body is still confusing the great brains of medicine. Nothing will leave a mark like that but a virtual bullet. It's a bit like a case I heard of before I got unplugged, a man could go into a trance and make the signs of the Zodiac appear on his skin."

"How?"

"By mentally directing the blood flow to one area so the skin was raised. This is similar," Key looks toward the mark again. "His mind was so convinced he was shot that it left a dent."

"Weird."

"Yeah," she closes the lid on the final bit of wire and goes for the door. "If you need any more pain-killer there's some in that cupboard. Just one pill."

"Okay."

"Keep an eye on Sleeping Beauty," the medic smirks.

Nanu smiles back, "Okay."

The door closes. Gavin stays silent and still, drugged with sedatives. Nanu climbs onto the other bunk and settles down to watch him.

****

Gavin

Pain. Dull now, where it used to be sharp. He can barely move. The air is cool, and it tastes metallic.

Real World. He's on the ship again. What happened? He got shot. He must be in the infirmary.

His eyes open. He's woken up to this view before; when Nanu was out cold.

"Good evening." She's sitting where he once sat, but she's not sleeping on duty. "I'm glad you're awake."

Recent events twist those words and give them deeper meanings. For an instant he can't think, then he manages to say, "Ditto."

"Ghost."

Scattered thoughts scatter further, "What?"

"That movie, that line is from Ghost. My turn now."

He shifts carefully. His head feels spacey from the pain-killers he's been choked with.

"'Guts will get you so far and then they'll get you killed.'"

"Um. Die Hard?"

"No."

"Speed."

"Right, your turn."

He manages to sit up a little, and blinks to focus. 

"Umm, 'I can't see you but I know you're there.'"

She smiles slowly, "City of Angels."

"Your turn," he has to remind her. If silence descends they might just remember what happened before.

"'Close your eyes, start a journey through a strange, new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before.'"

He frowns. "No idea."

"Phantom of the Opera."

"That's not a movie . . . "

And their intentional avoidance of the real issue continues.

****

Neo

He sits on the bridge, hunched in the pilot seat. He rests one hand on the controls as the ship cruises through the tunnels. Mist whorls through the eternal twilight, cold shades of black and grey. The real world sewers have the palette of Picasso's blue period, depressing shadows and darkness.

Which is matching his mood right now.

All those people were fake.

How could he have missed something so obvious?

How had he not noticed Cunningham's approach?

Is the upgraded Agent better than Neo?

Only now, _now_, does he recognise the artificial people, a sea of monochrome, too many twins and triplets. As the scene replays in Neo's head he sees everything he should have seen before; the two women side by side in identical clothes and hairstyles, the man in the sailor suit, the policeman writing a ticket and the way he'd turned his head to look at Neo . . . 

How could he have been so stupid?

He tends to do a lot of stupid things. He's made some dumb choices in the past, the biggest being to do with Cypher. He's never told anyone about that night, that drink on the Main Deck while Cypher was on Matrix watch.

__

"Why oh why didn't I take the blue_ pill?"_

I should have seen it coming.

Four people had died that day, not including Neo. Almost four years later, and he can still remember them. He can still hear the way Switch cried "No!" when Apoc fell. He can still see the way she had reached out her hands across the divide and clenched at the material of his jacket like she could pull him back into a world that wasn't real anyway.

And then she'd died.

He'd been scared then, more than scared, convinced he was going to follow them. Even after all this time, Trinity hasn't told him what Cypher said to her on the phone. But Neo can guess. Her hair had fallen in her face as she looked at the two slumped figures, blinking fast and fidgeting a little. She had seemed, for those few moments, breakable.

He'd been selfishly glad when the phone rang; grateful he and Trin were alive. Yet he'd felt terrible for being alive while others weren't.

And he could have prevented it all. He should have spoken to Morpheus about Cypher. He should have been ready. Cypher was so obvious, on edge that whole day, smirking and twitching and barely covering his excitement with crap acting.

__

How could I have been so stupid?

"You've got to stop blaming yourself," a soft voice comes from the doorway. He looks around; it's Trin. "Everyone makes mistakes - "

"Mine just cost more lives."

"Neo." The way she says his name shuts him up. It's in that, 'Don't bullshit me' tone she reserves for telling off junior crew. He can remember the first time she directed it at him. _"And since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it, I believe you can go to hell."_ That was the same day as . . .

"Listen to me," she's beside him, a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody could have done anything. I knew Cypher for years and I could tell he wasn't happy, but how could _anyone_ know he'd go to the AI?"

"How did - ?"

"Come on Neo, all you ever do is kick yourself over Cypher. But there's no reason to. Not even you can predict the future, _nobody_ could have known. It happened, it's over, and you have to let it go."

He stays silent, looking away from her out the front window. After a moment she sits down and begins to talk a little gentler.

"Same with this morning. You were distracted, I know the Oracle said something to worry you. Besides, Nanu and Gavin were behind us. I asked Nanu, she said he got slowed up, and she waited for him she lost sight of us.

"If it makes you feel any better, she feels guilty too. She noticed something wrong with those people, but too late to stop Gavin being hurt."

He turns the ship left, into a tunnel that leads deeper underground. They're flying to Zion tonight.

"So?"

He glances over at her where she waits for a reply. "Where do you think the people came from?"

She's almost surprised, "What?"

"Didn't you notice anything about them?"

Her brows furrow, and from the corner of his eye he sees her fold her arms. "Like?"

"There were a lot of twins and triplets; duplicates of each other. And they pretty much all wore black and white. There was a nun," she's motionless, "and a guy in a white suit, like a sailor, and I think there was a bride."

"Sounds like the Agent training program."

"Just need the red dress."

"Wait," Trin's voice is suddenly urgent. "Nanu didn't see her did she? She saw the younger girl we made for Gavin - "

" - And didn't get time to replace, yes."

"The blond in jeans?"

"Yeah."

She swears. Trinity almost never swears like that. "Nanu saw her, the young blond. She told me it was exactly the same as in the training sim."

"That can't be coincidence, but how could the AI know?"

"They could have got the rest from Mouse, you remember that if someone dies in there some memories are accessible."

"Yeah I remember, but the young girl was new."

"So, that means the AI must have got her from . . . oh my God."

Neo swears loudly and speeds the ship up. "Morpheus has to hear this."

***


	16. The Gates of Zion

The Gates of Zion

****

Key

Tod, Tank and Achi look up as Key enters the galley. She pours some breakfast and sits down at the bench where Tod makes room for her.

"How is he?" Tank asks, meaning Gavin.

"Okay. He wouldn't have lasted much longer. It's good Nanu got him out when she did."

A look gets passed around the table.

"Did you read how?" Achi speaks up.

"No, why?"

Tank slides the loaded reader across the table to Key. She continues eating while she goes through the decrypted code.

"Wow," she mutters.

"Where are you up to?" asks Tod.

"Lafayette roof . . . hey, it stops here."

Tank shrugs, "Achi deleted the end."

"Why?"

"It's not important," the Zion-born says smoothly. Key raises one eyebrow. Tank coughs and changes the subject.

"It's amazing she managed to carry him at all. She's so young."

"How's her headache?" Achi says.

"Not as bad as usual," Key shrugs. "Maybe she's developing a resistance to whatever it is that knocks her out."

A speaker above the door crackles briefly, then Neo's voice comes out.

__

- Tank, Achi, wherever you are you're needed on duty. We're docking soon -

"Docking?" The operator looks confused. "But we're not due to go to Zion until Thursday week."

Achi gets up and clips the reader to her belt. In response to Tank she just shrugs.

"Captain says we're docking, then we're docking. Now come on."

****

Nanu

She'd paused at the sound of the loudspeaker, now she raises her eyebrows at Gavin.

"Docking? As in Zion?"

"I guess so," he tilts his head back and sinks carefully back onto the pillow. "It's ahead of schedule, but things have changed recently."

"How do you mean?"

"Since we targeted you. Strictly speaking, Neo really shouldn't have selected you, you were too young and didn't have much skill in anything we needed."

She swallows the beginnings of hurt at the careless way he speaks, and asks, "Skill?"

"Every target needs to have something Zion can use, they need to be able to help us in this war. We can't afford to just pull out people on a whim, it takes too long to rebuild and train them." He pauses, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I guess you just weren't so obvious. Sixteen-year-old school girl turned superhero."

Nanu isn't sure what to think of _that_.

But he's right. A few months ago she was a clueless schoolgirl with an unhealthy fascination with a terrorist. Her primary concern had been getting her homework done.

Now . . . she looks around her. What is she now? A rebel fighter, a Matrix-born, a Jack. She runs a hand over her short spikes of hair, traces the curve of the plug in the back of her head, then the one in her arm.

__

It's only pen. I can rub it off.

You have definitely been here before.

Had she ever noticed her earlier self back when she had been Naiomi Harper?

__

Even the name is strange.

But had the memory of another life only surfaced when she'd left the Matrix? If so, why hadn't it happened before? Had she ever read minds in her old life? Had she done so by accident and then not noticed?

Footsteps disturb her, scattering the domino line of questions.

It's Key, with Tod in tow.

"We're coming closer to Zion now," the medic smiles, "I'm sorry Gav but you'll be staying where you are for another thirty to forty hours."

"We're really in Zion now?" Nanu forgets her musing quickly.

"Only the first maze, there's another four to go. Achi's flying, she's the only one besides Trinity who knows the way through."

Tod hangs back in the doorway, hunched and silent. Nanu tries to ignore the way he's looking at her.

"I s'pose that's for security," she guesses, "seeing as it's the last human civilisation and all."

"You catch on quick," is Gavin's comment, to Key he says, "Why do I have to stay here so long?"

"You're drugged to the eyeballs right now, once the painkillers wear off you won't dare breathe let alone trek around Zion."

"How long till we get there?" Nanu slides off the bunk.

"Have you slept tonight?" Key frowns at the shadows under the girl's eyes.

"Uh . . . no."

"So sleep first. When you wake up we'll be there."

***

Nanu wakes up with a sound in her ears she's never heard in the real world. Outside the ship, distant but there, is the voice of a person not on her crew.

She explodes out of bed, reaching for the door -

And collapses on her knees as pain knifes though her skull. She'd dealt with it yesterday but now it promises to get worse.

She gets up, opens the locker and takes out the canister of white powder. The painkiller is bitter, but works quickly, sending tingles up the back of her neck.

Nanu scrambles the lock, then leaves her room.

She begins to make her way deeper through the ship, clambering down the latticework of metal. She is silent, and the voices get louder. As she reaches the lowest room, light filtering up from the open hatch illuminates her in blue and grey.

She can pick out words now. "It's a good thing the Sterki left early, or we wouldn't have a port open for you."

"The Solomon hasn't come in yet?" that's Trinity.

"They called in, they'll be here by about 1130 hours."

Nanu creeps down to look through the hatch. It's like a trapdoor that slides to one side, leaving a rectangular hole. Right beside it is a wound up chain and mechanical claw, both of which look very familiar.

"How's Morpheus?" Neo's voice, barely audible.

"Same as always," says the stranger with a smile in his voice. "Half answers and double questions, that's him. But I heard you had a new kid, where is she?"

Right on cue, Nanu drops through the hatch, landing on concrete. Keeping her head down, she moves out from under the ship into the open.

"Here she is," Neo holds out his hand. "Choice, meet Nanu."

But she's too busy gawping around her to look at the stranger. They're in a huge cavern with dozens of ships parked side by side. Stone and metal surround her, one end of the hangar open to the fifth labyrinth. The other three sides are solid stone, but the opposite end is dotted with small tunnels and doorways. Only a few people are at work, clambering over the grey hulls of ships or pushing trolleys of spare engine parts.

Choice laughs, a warm sound. Nanu turns back to him.

"I can remember how I felt when I first came here. You'll get over it."

"Sorry," she holds out a hand to shake. "I didn't mean to ignore you or anything."

"It's cool, rookie," red-brown hair falls in his eyes from under a grubby bandanna. Neo seems about to say something when a small voice calls,

"Mommy!"

At first Nanu thinks the child is calling Choice, but then both Neo and Trinity turn around and the little girl runs toward them. With a cry of "Daddy!" she throws her arms around Neo and he scoops her off the ground.

"You've grown rascal," he laughs.

Nanu stares.

Trinity ruffles the little girl's hair as Neo shifts her onto his back. "Did you miss us BC?"

Nanu consciously closes her mouth.

"You're not meant to see us until after Detox BC," Neo admonishes over his shoulder. The girl, about three years old, just bites her knuckle and smiles at the back of his head with big dark eyes. "She's doing that face isn't she?" he asks Trinity, who gives the slightest smirk in response.

Nanu shifts her weight from one foot to another, feeling like an outsider. But the change that has come over Neo is worth watching. On the ship he often looks like he'd rather not be there, but now with his daughter, he actually looks happy. Trinity herself looks more relaxed, but not all _that_ relaxed.

"Nanu," the captain turns around, "this is Bobcat, our daughter."

Nanu raises a hand and waves awkwardly, "Hi."

Bobcat just looks through her bangs with her wide brown eyes. Neo's eyes, in a face that will look like Trinity's one day.

This is suddenly very weird.

***

Choice leaves to join his work group after the rest of the Neb's crew arrive. Gavin is still in the infirmary on board, and will be looked after my medical staff who live in the Detox area.

"Detox," Key explains to Nanu as they walk toward the medical wing, "is like a suburb of Zion. People off the ships stop here to make sure they don't transmit any kind of illness into the main city. They got really serious about quarantine after a flu epidemic back in 2113."

"But what about the people who work here? Wouldn't they carry stuff into Zion?"

"No, they live here a few months at a time, then go through the same treatment themselves and go back to the city. It's like living on a campus or something."

"Here," Trinity interrupts. "We go this way." They've reached the other end of the hangar where dozens of corridors lead into the wall. There are no signs that Nanu can see, but the captain seems to know where she's going. After passing BC from one person to another, Key, Achi, Trinity and Nanu turn down the hall away from Neo, Tank, and Tod.

They pass doors on both sides, heading down the passage as it turns and slopes. Then Trinity stops before a numbered door,

"We're in here."

"You book rooms?" Nanu asks before she can stop herself.

Trinity steps into the room, "They're actually allocated to us before we get here, this is for the Nebuchadnezzar's women."

The room is small, grey, and plain. Benches line two walls, and a doorway is in the far wall. It resembles a public changing room at the beach, with not quite so much sand.

Key closes the door behind her as Achi sets Bobcat on the floor.

"Who wants first shower?" the medic asks, pulling off her jumper.

"You can go first." Trinity explains to Nanu, "She likes to get this over and done with."

"Get what over and done with?" Nanu's getting a bit nervous.

"Chemical shower," Achi undoes her belt, all her tools are still on the ship. "It stings a bit, Key hates it."

"Stings?"

"Not much," Trinity assures her. As the woman pulls off her long sleeved shirt, Nanu sees a tattoo. It's a small black snake, curled around the plug on her forearm.

"What's that?" she points.

Trinity just sits down to pull her boots off. Achi smiles a little and says, "The Zion equivalent of a wedding ring."

"Oh." Nanu quietly unclips her boots, trying to sort this out. Wife and mother don't seem to be terms that could apply to a soldier, a fighter. But then again, there is so much she doesn't know about Trinity.

BC hops up beside Achi and begins to inspect the buckle of her belt. Achi carefully removes it and places it on a shelf above her head. Instead of looking upset, BC just smiles and bites her knuckle again.

Key, in the meantime, has stripped to singlet and underwear. Now she takes a deep breath and steps into the next room, pulling a perspex screen closed behind her. Nanu hears a creak, then there is a hiss as water pours down, followed by something white, then once again water.

Achi is next; she enters the shower as Key leaves from a door in the other side.

"You'll go next," Trinity tells Nanu. "When the shower finishes, you'll get fresh clothes on the other side. Key will take you through for a check up and your shots."

"Great," Nanu hates needles. As Trinity distracts BC, she reluctantly gets undressed, removing each layer with growing awkwardness. Beside the captain's smooth muscles Nanu feels thin and gangly. Red weals still show on her skin from where numerous small plugs were removed, while Trinity is pale, and _her_ scars do not mar her . . . beauty.

But then the shower is empty and it's time to face the music.

After pulling the door closed behind her, Nanu looks around the tiny cubicle. There are two levers on the wall, with labels scratched into the metal. She pulls down hard on the water one.

Whoomp! Water pounds into her like lukewarm fists on her shoulders and head. Her singlet and underwear are instantly soaked, and she can barely move to pull the other lever.

Then the white stuff is coming down, an odd sort of foam that smells like bleach. She rubs it into her skin and short hair, grateful at least for feeling less grubby.

She forces the soap lever up again and bows her head for the rinse, shivering in the cold.

Nanu turns the water off then staggers through the other door.

Key wraps a towel around her, rubbing feeling back into tinglingly numb skin.

"How was that?" she asks gently.

" . . . ow."

She helps Nanu into dry underwear and clothes. Nanu is momentarily too dazed to care or notice, and besides, Key is a medic. Doctors are different from captains somehow.

The pants are even bigger than her last pair and have to be rolled up, and the shirt only just fits. After a jumper Key produces something that faintly resembles a jacket, an oversized shirt with a split down the front. The boots are different, and are a little too big.

"Come on now."

Nanu gets to her feet, sore and woozy, but she follows Key out of the room and down yet another corridor.


	17. The Atrium

The Atrium

****

Neo

He hurries out of the medical wing of the Detox centre, through the tunnel that leads to Zion's lowest level. Electric lights cast strange shadows as he moves.

He pauses as he reaches for the doorknob at the end of the corridor. Unlike most door handles in Zion, it's round and almost shiny, reflecting his hand about to curl around it.

__

. . . I can only show you the door . . .

Morpheus and his riddles. He even confuses Trin sometimes. Half answers and double questions indeed.

Pushing aside memory, Neo pushes the door open.

Noise swamps over him.

__

Zion.

He moves through the crowd, returning the occasional nod from a Jack or Zionite, people he knows through 'work'.

Reaching the centre of the space, he pauses and looks up. Thousands of people, just living out their lives. Not oblivious, but largely uncaring.

Zion will survive whether or not the Matrix falls. As such, some think that the war is waste of time, resources and people.

He scans the crowd, seeing a sea of drab greys and blues and browns, with light glinting off the occasional socket. The diversity of race is the only variant here, where clothes are strictly utilitarian and fashion does not exist.

"Neo!" Tank calls as he jogs up to him, smelling of Detox bleach. "I rang the docks, they said the Solomon just came in. But they won't be through for an hour or so more, Wraith needs to get her shots."

"How's Nanu?"

"Fine."

"Let's go Home then."

****

Nanu

She's on a bench, feet dangling, stripped to a singlet again. A Detox medic is examining her, shining lights in her eyes, ears, noting the exact position of her plugs. Key is hovering near the door, looking nervous.

"You're in good shape honey," the lady smiles. Key pricks up her ears. "Key's taken good care of you." The medic relaxes visibly. "Just your shots now."

Nanu inhales sharply.

As the Detox lady begins organising the vaccines, another girl comes into the room, preceded by another doctor. Her hair is only dark stubble, but Nanu recognises her.

"Wraith."

She blinks, looks up. "I know you."

"Yes, we went by your old work once."

Wraith makes an unconscious motion, as if to tuck hair behind her ear. Half way through the move she pauses, and looks wryly at her hand.

"It'll grow back," Nanu smiles.

Wraith gives her an odd look, as if confused. Nanu realises that, in some way, she's older than she is. Despite the several years in age difference, Nanu has a little more experience in this world.Then the medic comes back with a large needle, and her smile vanishes.

***

Rubbing her sore arm, Nanu follows Trinity down a corridor from the medical wing to the 'atrium'. She can hear a noise, a hum of people, coming through the door ahead of her.

__

Zion.

They stop at the end of the corridor, and Trinity looks at her.

"I can remember what Morpheus said to me when I was at this point."

Nanu takes the bait, "What did he say?"

"He told me that Zion is the last human city."

Nanu looks blank.

"The last human city," the captain repeats. "Meaning that there are people, like in any Matrix city, who are racist, or dishonest, or greedy, or dangerous. This place is about as far as you can get from a perfect world. So be careful."

Then she opens the door.

The atrium rises above them, the stone roof hidden by tangled layers of steel grids, rails and ladders like an artwork by Escher, connecting levels to levels. And everywhere, people. The space at the bottom of the atrium is as large as a football field and as full as a city McDonald's at lunch hour. Gavin's analogy of an ant's nest isn't wrong, but the way levels overlap and interlock, and the system of ladders and stairs makes Nanu think of a hive.

Voices are everywhere, all speaking at once in dozens of different accents and languages.

"Oy, 'musta ka na?"

"Zao an."

"Sie sind spät."

"Nakuha mo ba ung hinigi ko sayo'ng program?"

"Tu sei pazzo!"

"Nanu, stay by me."

She walks closer to Trinity, resisting the urge to reach for her hand like a drowning girl for a rope.

"Where're we going?" A quiet pulse of pain is beginning again in her head.

"Home."

***


	18. A Grand Tour

A Grand Tour

****

Gavin

He climbs slowly up the ladder, favouring his left arm. The iron is cool to the touch, and he smiles at its familiar feel as he climbs off the ladder onto the bottom level of Home.

"Gavin!" a voice calls from directly above him, and he looks up. Dangling upside down from the framework, Nanu waves to him. "You're better."

"Looks like it," he grins back.

She swings like an acrobat, grabs another iron bar with one hand, then hooks her legs around a vertical pole and slides to the grille floor. Her cheeks are flushed, and her hair has grown in the few days since he's seen her.

"This place is awesome."

"Have you seen much of Zion yet?"

"Not much actually, Trinity was worried I'd get lost."

"It's very possible."

"We went to the traders the other day, BC needed new shoes and the shirt Detox gave me was too small."

"I've never got anything that fits from Detox."

"Where are you staying?" she asks as they begin toward the next set of stairs.

"Level three, room nine."

"That's next door to me."

Home looks like a prison building that isn't entirely finished yet. Rooms are hewn out of the rock walls, and there are steel balconies around the walls at each level. Gangways cross and recross from one side of the cavern to the other, held up by lattices of steel frames.

"Where's your stuff?" Nanu asks.

"Tod will have taken it up for me. There's not much anyway, just my sketcher and a change of clothes."

"Sketcher?"

"It's a hand held thing, you can use it to edit or read code, or you can draw with it."

"Like, a cross between a palm pilot and a magi-doodle board."

"Yeah sort of."

They continue walking for a few moments in silence.

"I wish there were elevators here," she sighs.

"Ditto."

"Ghost."

He has to smile. "Your turn now."

"Um, 'Can you lean back a second?'"

"Hmm. True Lies?"

"Bulls eye!"

And the game continues.

****

Neo

He sits down, pulling his coat around him as Morpheus sits down opposite.

"It's good to see you again Neo."

"It's good to see you too sir."

"What's on your mind?"

Neo takes a deep breath and begins. He recounts the strange appearance of the people in the street after Nanu's trip to the Oracle, including the girl in the red t-shirt. He also tells Morpheus about the upgraded Cunningham model finding them on two occasions, and about the time Biosa got caught with Radar and Pirate.

Morpheus listens without interrupting, his arms folded in his sleeves.

"Well," he says when Neo is fnished. "The issue with Cunningham seems simple; he's been upgraded."

"But agents never find us that fast."

"He's been upgraded particularly well. He is, by your report, the most advanced Agent yet. I'm more concerned with this girl from the training program. When was she written?"

"When we first targeted Gavin. Since we didn't think we'd go through with Nanu we never got around to changing the program."

"Had anyone seen her but Gavin, Nanu and yourself?"

"Nanu saw her in the Matrix the same as she did in the sim, I never saw her in the Matrix."

"So you believe the AI accessed her mind?"

"I don't know where else the girl could have come from. I'm fairly certain it wasn't coincidence."

"Hm, this is new." He reaches for a small wooden talisman on a cord around his neck, smooths his fingers over it while thinking. "But why would the AI generate the crowd in the first place?"

The younger man shrugs. "Not sure. Maybe it was to make us easier to separate, then," a pause, "attack."

"Perhaps. Perhaps it was to confuse and distract you, but there are easier ways to do that."

"For example?"

"An accident, an explosion, coppertops creating a disturbance like a robbery, the AI can arrange, that as you know."

"So why copy information from Nanu's mind?"

"Perhaps they're showing off."

"Showing off?"

Morpheus spreads his hands with an uncharacteristic shrug "That's all that comes to mind right now."

Neo doesn't say anything. After a pause, Morpheus changes the subject.

"Nanu, that's her name isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Nanu," he says again, pronouncing it carefully, with the stress on the a, like the a in car. Her name seems to sound more important when he says it, but then, most things do. "What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure."

"I'll have to ask her when she comes."

Neo stands up, "When would you like to see her?"

"I have all the time in the world Neo, you know I'm not going anywhere."

****

Nanu

"Arnie was in True Lies with Bill Paxton who was in - "

" - Titanic with Kate Winslett who was in - "

" - Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson - "

" - who was in Much Ado About Nothing with Kenneth Branagh who - 

" - was in Hamlet with Robin Williams - "

"What?" Gavin pauses, frowning. "Who was he in Hamlet?"

"Wasn't he the gravedigger?" Nanu reaches out and traces the hem of a shirt on a table.

"I can't remember," he comes up beside her to look at the shirt. "This is a rarity."

They're on level 5, sector B, just off the main atrium. At the traders.

"It's red." Around them, people move and voices are raised as customers haggle with the table keepers.

__

("You're saying this is worth three extension cords and_ my boots?"_

"Maniwala ka.")

"So it is, you reckon red is my colour?" he picks up the shirt. It's been patched in several places, a wide piece of dark blue forming a pocket on the front. There is a smaller hole on the left side of the chest, and the armholes are frayed.

"No." Nanu doesn't touch the shirt again. "Put it down." She doesn't like Gavin holding it against him for size like that, the hole is over his heart.

"Okay," he doesn't seem to notice her mood. Almost as soon as he puts it down, another hand snatches up the old cloth.

A guy about Gavin's age, with dark blonde hair and light brown eyes, has taken the shirt and is critically looking it over. Reaching a decision, he hails the table keeper.

"What'll you take for this?" he asks, his eyes shrewd and his voice quick.

"Nuthin yore wearin mate," the keeper drawls. "This's worth more'n Detox gear."

"Well, sure it's red," the guy reasons. "But it's thin and the edges are fraying and it's got two almighty big holes in it. It's not worth all that much."

Gavin is about to move on, but Nanu lingers, wanting to see the end of this transaction.

The older man and the younger man banter back and forth, eventually agreeing to trade the red shirt for the grey one the guy was issued in Detox. The guy changes on the spot, shrugging the too-small shirt off and handing it to the keeper.

Nanu inhales sharply. Tattoos of code and symbols chase each other around the plugs in his upper arms, shoulders and back, disappearing under his singlet. Gavin gives a low whistle.

The guy turns around. Light is caught in his eyes, and they gleam with a yellow tinge.

__

Wolf eyes.

"Must've hurt getting those done," Gavin comments. The guy shrugs, and doesn't say anything. The noise and bustle of trading goes on around them.

"What's your name?" Nanu asks. The wolf eyes turn to her, and she sees the slightest bit of emotion behind them; recognition.

"Pirate."

Nanu's breath catches again, but she doesn't let either of the men see.

"Pirate," she holds out a hand. "I'm Nanu."

After the briefest pause, he takes her hand and shakes it. Gavin quickly steps forward and introduces himself.

"You're from the Solomon?" Nanu asks.

"And you're from the Nebuchadnezzar." It's a statement.

"How long are you here for?" Gavin tries to draw more conversation from him.

"Few weeks," his tattooed shoulders shrug. He stands like some wild animal, resting for now but alert and poised to run.

"We'll, uh," Gavin seems put off by Pirate's attitude. "We'll see you 'round then."

But at that sign of their leaving, some other quality rises in his eyes, his eyes that catch the light in a similar way to Neo's eyes. And Bobcat's. And the Oracle's.

And her own.

__

. . . you've got the gift . . .

"We're just going to be wandering around," she says. "But if you want you can walk with us."

Pirate looks at her as critically as he examined the frayed hems of his newly acquired shirt. "Three's a crowd," he says, in that sharp, quick voice, then he slides away through the traders and dealers.

Nanu loses sight of him instantly.

***


	19. Zillah

Zillah

***

****

Gavin

"We shouldn't stay here long."

"Why not?"

"Bad area."

"But they're the most interesting," Nanu grins impishly as she skips ahead of him. They are deep in a network of tunnels and caves, lit intermittently by the orange glow of electric lights.

"Hey, don't run off." Her answering laugh bounces off the wall and echoes; he cannot tell where she is.

Suddenly he stumbles as a hand in the back shoves him over.

"That's not funny Nanu," he growls, picking himself up and examining his grazed palms.

"What's not funny?" she appears in front of him. "How did you fall?" she asks, kneeling.

"But, you – " he stops. Nanu wouldn't have pushed him over.

"As a matter of fact, it _was_ rather funny," comes a voice from behind him. Nanu looks up over his shoulder, and for a moment her eyes go blank. Then, unnervingly, she smiles.

"Zillah, how nice to meet you," she gets up, and as Gavin turns his head he sees her greeting a shadowy figure leaning against the wall.

Zillah has dark brown skin, a shaved head, and wears a long grey cloak draped around her shoulders. At Nanu's knowledge of her name, she is unruffled.

"Nice to meet you too Nanu. And this is?"

"Gavin. And I'm sure you didn't _mean_ to knock him over – "

"Oh, but I did."

Gavin pauses, half way to his feet. Zillah's clipped British accent is horribly precise.

"Well Zillah," Nanu grabs his hand and pulls him up. "That's not a very nice thing to do is it?"

Zillah tilts her head to one side and steps away from the wall.

A scuff of a foot behind them betrays the other members of the gang. Four other members, three guys and a girl.

" 'Nice' doesn't come into the equation, " Zillah smiles. She's good looking in a dangerous sort of way.

"Why can't you say that without your guards?" Nanu raises an eyebrow. Gavin tries to catch her eye but fails.

"Is that a Challenge rookie?"

Silence. If anyone is watching this show in the dim stone corridor they're not coming out of hiding.

"You're a Jack." Zillah shows one bare brown arm, indicating the scar of steel, "So am I. So you have a choice. Unarmed combat, will it be in or out of a sim?"

"I never agreed – "

"Neither did you decline."

Nanu goes very still, but to her credit does not look to him for help. She lifts her chin.

"Which sim?" There are several basic simulations used widely by ships for training, each of them tested as safe.

"Mongrel is just putting the finishing touches on one of her own creations. We'll use that."

Nanu looks at the young woman, who is dark and compact. "Where's it set?"

"Construction site," Mongrel mumbles through the hair hanging over her face.

"When?" Nanu turns back to Zillah.

"Tomorrow."

"You're on."

****

Nanu

They walk back in silence. She knows without listening that Gavin is very annoyed with her, the same way she knows that Neo is outside her room, knocking on her door.

She has a connection with both of them now. Whatever it is that defines the barriers of a mind, that seems to be missing here. With an effort, she can shut Neo out, but for some reason the connection to Gavin is too strong to be ignored.

"I wish you hadn't done that," he says as they reach the ground floor of Home.

"I'm sorry." She doesn't know what else to say.

"Do you know how dangerous that sim could be?" his voice is very quiet, almost calm. "You can't possibly go through with this."

"Why not?" she pauses at the foot of the stairs. "It's a sim Gavin, I'll be fine."

"It's an _untested_, _home written_ sim," he keeps his voice low still, though she knows he wants to yell. "You don't know what could go wrong, an error, a glitch, a bug – "

__

. . . any number of things could have gone wrong. You, or Neo, could have been killed . . .

But we weren't.

"Gavin, I'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen that I can't deal with."

He makes as if to reply but Neo's voice floats down through the darkness. "Nanu? You down there?"

She looks down once more at Gavin's upraised face.

"Don't do this," he says.

She turns away and calls up to Neo, "I'm right here."

"Come up!"

And when Nanu turns around, Gavin is no longer at her back.

***

It's colder this high up. Nanu's muscles are aching after climbing 32 stories of the main atrium, and they're not at their destination yet.

"How much further?" she asks Neo. He pauses on the stairway beside her.

"Not too far, but we'll take a rest anyway."

She sinks to the ground, "Man my legs hurt."

"You've never used them for so long before. Your muscles may have been rebuilt but you're still human." He sits on the step below her and leans against the wall. It's quiet; this stairway leads off an empty living sector on the atrium's top level. Nanu doubts many people even know this place exists.

"Who does BC stay with?" she asks to fill the silence.

"Whom," Neo corrects automatically. "When Trin and I are on the ship she's usually with Achi's family. They're Zionites."

"Zionites?"

"They live here all the time."

"Same with Tank's family?"

He looks away. Unconsciously, his fingers begin pulling at the cuff of his shirt. "I wouldn't mention them around Tank."

"Why not?"

"Tank doesn't exactly have a family anymore. His only brother and his father are dead, and his mother has more or less disowned him."

She has to ask, "Why?"

"She doesn't think he should be fighting this war. A lot of people think the same, but they're less vocal about it. Tank stays with Achi's family when he's here, they're distantly related."

"Oh." She leans her head back against the wall. She never thought about Tank's family before. Or anyone else's for that matter. She knows something of Neo's history, and has had a glimpse at Trinity's and Gavin's, but she knows almost nothing about the rest of her crew.

Or everyone she's met since coming to Zion. In the brief space of a few months, she's become better friends with more people than she ever did in almost four years of high school.

Neo rises smoothly to his feet, and looks down at her. When he moves, there is something purely animal about him.

"Come on Nanu."

As she climbs up, she wonders if she's going forward to learn yet another new name.

***

The stairs open into a smallish room, dark and cold and empty except for an operator's desk and two jack-in chairs.

"Okay," Nanu shivers. "Are you going to tell me why we're here yet?"

"To see Morpheus."

"Where is he?"

"Just jack in. He'll meet you soon."

***


	20. Morpheus

Morpheus.

****

Nanu

Neo loads her into a very odd simulation. It's a garden, with hedges in orderly rows and large spreading plane trees dappling the sunlight. She can hear birds singing. The air smells fresh and warm.

Damn good programming.

"Nanu," a deep voice makes her turn around.

Morpheus.

He's tall, black. The only relief to his shadowy form is his white smile and mirror shades. He sweeps down the gravel path, his arms folded behind his back.

"At last."

She holds out a hand, steps forward. "It's an honour to meet you."

An odd look crosses his face, but is passes and he says, "No Nanu, the honour is mine," as he shakes her hand.

There is a brief pause.

"May I ask you something?" she says.

"Of course."

"Why did you choose to meet in here?"

"Because I no longer exist out there."

She stops, blank. The birds keep singing.

"You have heard the story of the first One?"

Light begins to dawn.

"His body died but his mind lived on."

"And in much the same principle this is now my home. At the present moment, _how_ is not important."

Nanu smiles a little. He'd guessed her next question.

There is another pause. Although the day is warm, Morpheus seems unaffected in his black leather coat.

Suddenly he gestures to the timber and wrought iron bench beside the path, offering her a seat. Accepting it, Nanu folds her hands on her knees.

"The Oracle told me to see you."

"I remember her," he smiles sadly.

"She told me I had lived before."

"Pardon?"

"She told – "

"I heard you Nanu but I'm not sure I agree."

"She said she remembered me."

He looks away, quirks a sarcastic brow, "Well that _really_ narrows it down."

Nanu gets up off the bench and turns to look down at the man, the jack, the fighter. Trinity's old captain, the man that awoke Neo to the real world.

"The Oracle told me that you could tell me who I once was. I don't believe she was wrong."

He goes still and looks at her closely. Then he gets up, "Come with me."

He leads her down the garden path around a turn in the hedge.

There is a door in the middle of the lawn, stark, institution white in the middle of green grass and flowers.

Morpheus opens it, the doorway shows a mirror, but his reflection is wearing a suit and is standing in the middle of a dark, old fashioned study.

He walks right through the mirror.

Nanu stops. "Oka-ay . . . "

Slowly, she reaches out and touches the mirror. It's like winding her fingers through tendrils of smoke; she can feel nothing.

But she can see the mirror. And she can see her reflection watching her from inside the room.

Her reflection.

When was the last time she considered herself in a mirror?

The girl she sees now is tall, thin, and (can it be?) graceful. Her dark hair is scooped up and back from her face, which is chiselled and fine. Yellow tinged eyes gleam under arched brows and long lashes.

She's dressed all in greys and browns; jeans, boots and jacket. She looks sharp, hard.

Dangerous.

"No way," she swears under her breath. "That can't be real." And screwing her eyes shut she steps through the mirror.

****

Neo

He smiles briefly as he reads Nanu's reaction to her appearance. Little does she know, she really does look like that. In almost three months, she seems to have aged over a year.

****

Nanu

Morpheus leads her into a library. The walls are lined, ceiling to floor, with books. No, not books, photo albums.

"These are my memories," his gesture encompasses the room.

Nanu twigs, "No, I really shouldn't – "

"Please," he gives her a small leather bound index. "I think it will help." Then he leaves.

Nanu swears again.

****

Neo

He frowns, he's having trouble reading the coding for the books on the walls. They seem to be something akin to doorways, but that can't be right, can it?

This dream world of Morpheus is, in parts, far more complex then the Matrix. Neo isn't sure if that's a good or a bad thing, or if it's neither.

****

Nanu

She looks around the room, running a finger down the cloth spine of the closest album. She remembers Trinity's memories, how they'd been jumbled and buried and hidden away.

Morpheus seems either very trusting or foolish.

Nanu reads the label on the shelf: July. There are five shelves above it, labelled January to June, and six below labelled August to December. Each stack of shelves holds a year, each shelf a month, each album a day.

How many days has Morpheus lived?

She opens the index and flicks to a random page.

__

Dog – My dog

- Neighbour's dog

- Dog bites

- Puppies

and so on, each with several dates listed behind each topic.

Nanu riffles forward to M : Matrix.

The entry is one line, squeezed in between matriculate and maul. All it says is

__

For all Matrix related entries, see room 101*

"And where is that I wonder?" she mutters, then checks the asterisk reference at the bottom of the page.

__

* It's behind shelf 37.

"Oh."

****

Neo

He jumps as his headset rings. He holds a finger to his ear, clicks the answer key.

"Operator."

__

- Neo -

It's Morpheus. Who else would it be?

"What's she doing sir? What's in that room?"

__

- You mean you can't see it? -

"No, the code doesn't make sense. It just shows empty space."

__

- Well that's not by my hand. I think that's because of Nanu -

"What do you mean?"

__

- Has she ever explained to you how she reads minds? -

"No."

__

- Because this world is, like it is, it seems she's seeing things as literal where they used to be analogies -

"What?"

__

- She compares memories to photo albums. Now when she is scanning through mine she sees a library full of photographs, understand? -

"Sort of - hey!" Neo pulls a keyboard nearer, hammers a command.

Nothing.

He looks over to where Nanu lies in the chair. Her heart is beating, she's breathing, but her brain has flatlined.

"Where is hell is she?"

__

- Room 101 -

****

Nanu

Room 101 is not so organised as the rest of the library. Albums with dusty leather covers are piled haphazardly on the single table and chair, and scattered over the floor. A few have words on the cover in texta, like _'Nebuchadnezzar - first day'_, _'fields'_, _'powerplant'_ or _'Zion Detox'_.

"Here goes," and she picks up the memory of his first day on the first Neb.

As she opens to the first page, she sees what appears to be a moving photo, like a wizard photo from Harry Potter. But these people are not waving at her.

And no wizard photo would drag her into it.

****

Neo

He swears as Nanu's eyes flutter open. Only the whites of her eyes are showing.

Carefully, he reaches out and closes her eyes again. She's cold. Her breathing is slow, deep. And yet there's still no brain activity. He bites his lip.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Nanu."

****

Nanu/Morpheus

__

She/he opens her/his eyes. She/he sits up slowly, looking around the room. Metal everything.

Predicably, Morpheus looks down at the IV in his arm.

Other memories swarm but Nanu keeps her hold on this one. She catches brief glimpses of pills, darkness, machines, pods, and a woman . . . who looks familiar.

Then the door to his cabin opens and Morpheus starts, looks up.

"Good morning."

He stares up at her.

If Nanu had a body of her own, she'd stop breathing now.

The woman is tall, thin, dressed in ratty grey and blue. She's been unplugged for many years, her hair is long and dark. And her eyes gleam yellowish in her sharp, chiselled face.

She is forty something years old, but this woman looks like Nanu.

Morpheus whispers he name, "Juno."

The woman moves forward, kneels down, and carefully pulls the IV from the boy's arm. He winces, makes a noise.

"I'm sorry that hurt you," Juno says in a soft, dark voice.

"Why did it hurt?" his mind is questioning, anxious.

"Because that socket is in your arm. It's part of you."

A rejecting shake of the head; Morpheus refuses the answer and asks a new question.

"Where am I?"

"No amount of explaining will make this any easier for you Morph. But know for now that it's approximately 2179, not 1999 as you believed it to be. You're in the real world now."

"What?"

She stands up, holds out her hand to him. Plugs glint silver in her bare pale arms.

"Come with me Morph. You have to see this for yourself.

****

Nanu

The memory slides away as Nanu stands in the middle of the dusty room, shaking.

"Juno? Who was Juno? _Who was I?_"

****

Neo

She takes a deep breath, her head tilts and her back arches in the chair. There are no restraints on her, for who would expect anything to go wrong in Morpheus' world?

Neo scans the code as she emerges from room 101, running and calling for his old captain.

****

Nanu

"Morpheus!"

She comes out through the mirror door into the garden. The bright sun and birdsong sound even more unreal.

"Morpheus!"

Nanu turns, breathing fast and clenching her hands. Nothing. The path leads away from her, twisted and beginning to tilt as she turns around again.

"Morph!"

"Nanu, calm down." And suddenly he's there, catching her arms as she folds to her knees. "Are you alright?"

"Juno was your captain wasn't she?"

He pauses, crouching beside her. "Yes."

"Was she anything more to you?"

"No."

She slumps lower, he head hanging. Morpheus' voice is gentle, and sad.

"You know you'll have to deal with this alone."

"How can I?"

"You've got your search word now. All you need is time."

"Right."

"I don't know that Neo would understand if you tried to talk about this with him."

"No, he probably wouldn't."

"Nor would Gavin."

She looks up with a hollow laugh. "How the hell did you know?"

His smile echoes a younger person. Morph; that's what Juno called him.

"Trinity's favourite line was 'he knows more than you can imagine.'"

She smiles back. The words fit the man of shadows, but are at odds with the boy.

"Do you want to get out now?"

"Yes, thankyou."

He pulls her up, taking her hands.

"Uh, Morpheus?"

"Hmm?"

"Could I see you again maybe?"

His smiles again, even sadder.

"I'll be right here."

****

Neo

She opens her eyes, inhales. Neo pulls out her plug and lets down her chair.

"My head is spinning," she says, brow furrowing.

"Are you okay?" he checks her stats upon exiting - they're perfectly normal.

"I'm fine, now."

"What did he say?"

"I . . . I think I know who I was."

He gives her a hand to clamber out of the chair. "You believe that?"

"Don't you?"

"Well, yeah. But it's still," he shrugs.

Nanu pulls her jacket tighter around herself.

"Can we go back now? It's cold."

"Sure." Neo follows her from the room, locking the door on the desk and two chairs.

***


	21. The Challenge

The Challenge.

****

Nanu

She comes into the Home mess hall, looking around for her crew. Key spots her and waves. Nanu waves back then makes for the servery. She collects a bowl of slop, water and a few biscuits, then goes to join Key, Tod and . . . Gavin.

Conversations float around her, voices are raised and faces are animated as people talk, discuss, debate. Most of them are aged in their twenties or thirties, but a few teens follow their older crewmates around and the rare child sits with a parent.

She sets down her tray, exchanges greetings.

"Morning Nanu."

"Hi Key, hi Tod," then a pause. "Hi Gavin."

He looks up at her. "It's today isn't it?"

"Yes, it's today."

"What's today?" Tod looks from one of them to the other. Key stops eating.

"Nanu? What's going on?"

Still standing up, the girl takes a mouthful of water before answering, "I'm meeting someone today."

"A challenge?"

"Yeah."

The medic looks more worried than angry, "Nanu, they're not allowed. There are laws against fighting in Zion."

Nanu picks up the hard biscuits, feeling she'll have to leave soon.

"Is it in or out of a sim?" Key asks.

"Does it matter? You're against it either way."

"Nanu - "

But she leaves, ignoring them.

****

Gavin

Key pulls Tod back down to sit again. He mumbles something that sounds like "Troublemaker" before glaring balefully at the untouched bowl of slop still sitting on Nanu's tray. The buzz of activity continues around them.

Gavin gets up from the bench.

"You'll keep an eye on her?"

"As well as I can."

****

Pirate

From a corner on the other side of the hall, a pair of wolf eyes watches the white hawk follow the grey cub.

Then Pirate shoves away from the wall and follows Gavin following Nanu.

****

Zillah

The shadows move, although the lights are steady. In her hiding spot, Zillah crouches. And she watches.

The girl is young for a jack. Her hair is very short, her clothes are too big. If she is afraid of being down here alone, she shows nothing of it.

How well can she fight? She looks frail and thin in this world, but there is a rock-hard quality to her golden brown eyes that Zillah can see for strength of mind.

Maybe she'll put up a good fight. The woman smiles, a flash of white. She does, after all, enjoy a challenge.

"I can't see you Zillah, but I know you're there."

****

Gavin

Around the corner, he pauses. He smiles slowly, and whispers; "City of Angels."

****

Nanu

She turns at Zillah's voice behind her; "You're here."

"Did you think I wouldn't show?"

The woman just smiles again.

"Where's the sim?"

"Right this way," she smiles in that neat, precise accent. It doesn't seem to fit in this rough world.

****

Gavin

He moves after them, quiet as he can.

But someone hears him.

Hands clamp over his mouth, arms drag him down. He struggles, but there are three of them.

****

Nanu

Two clumsy jack-in chairs rest side by side. Excessively simple, they're at a permanent thirty-degree tilt, with only a belt around the waist for restraint. There are no moving parts.

Mongrel straps them down, and plugs them in, none too gently.

"Where are the rest of your guards?" Nanu asks Zillah.

"Not where we're going, and that's all you should be worried about."

But as the construct loads, Nanu is struck with a sudden feeling that Gavin is in pain.

****

Gavin

One hard fist turns his head to the side, and he sags, held up only by his arms twisted behind his back.

Three against one. Not fair.

He tries to get his legs straight, to open his eyes for the next blow, but it doesn't come. Someone yells in surprise, and then a figure in a red shirt is wrestling with the guy who was hitting him.

"Alloy, Alloy damn you, you bastard, it's me, dammit - "

__

I know that voice.

The puncher goes still, "Pirate?"

"Yeah it's me."

"Well get off me then you prick."

Gavin blinks, bringing the scene into focus. Pirate gets up, pulling the other guy to his feet.

"Since when did you get back?" someone asks from beyond his field of vision.

"Few days ago. And what the hell do you think you're doing to my friend?"

__

Friend?

"Friend?"

"Yes Ruck, my friend. Let him go."

"Zillah - "

"Told you to keep away anyone following the girl. That doesn't mean you kill him. So Jet, let him go."

The hands that hold Gavin loosen. He shuffles his feet and tries to keep his head up.

"Let him _go_ I said."

Gavin falls as Jet drops him.

****

Nanu

"So what is this?" she asks. "A fight to the death?"

"We go on until you cry mercy."

"How much time do you have?"

"Plenty."

They move, pacing and circling around each other. Zillah's denim jacket creaks, Nanu is silent in her customary grey and brown.

Shadows move.

Nanu watches Zillah, trying to catalogue the potential hazards and advantages of the construction site in the low, orange light that flickers like flames.

The woman moves without warning, striking with a flurry of martial arts punches and blows. Nanu blocks her, skipping back, around and out of reach until they move into another standoff.

****

Pirate

He hauls Gavin to his feet, holds him up. The hawk is about his age, maybe a year older.

"What are you doing here?" Gavin asks through a split lip.

"I _was_ keeping an eye on Nanu."

"She's on _my_ crew," he glares, sounding possessive.

"She's like me," Pirate whispers, "in a way you'll never understand." He turns away to Alloy. "You shouldn't have hit him so hard."

"Like you're an angel Pirate. You taught me how to hit like that. If I didn't know better I'd say the AI had turned you soft."

Ruck and Jet laugh on cue. Gavin steps apart from them, leaning against the tunnel wall.

"You guys didn't used to do this. Why'd you start?"

"Gets damn boring when you're grounded sailor boy." Alloy sneers, "Not that you'd know."

"And when was the last time you applied to join a crew? There are ships that don't fly any more because there's no one willing to get on them. You're all jacks - "

"Don't start, sailor boy. We're past that."

He shoves his thumbs through his belt. "Where's Zillah anyway?"

Jet points down the tunnel, "With the rookie."

"You wanna watch 'em, Pirate?"

The hawk looks over to him. Blonde hair falls in his eyes.

"Sure," Pirate shrugs. "Why the hell not?"

****

Zillah

She darts forward again, quickly, aiming for Nanu's gut with her fists. But Nanu dodges her, quicker still.

"Are you going to spend all your life running from danger?" she looks around, but she can't see the girl.

"What would you have me do?" the reply comes from above, and she whirls.

Nanu is crouched atop a half constructed wall, smiling catlike. As she springs for Zillah the air flickers, and for an instant the wall fades as if is had never been.

But then Zillah is knocked down, flat on her back, and by some chance she manages to push the rookie off her and over her head and send her flying with her own momentum and computer enhanced force.

Nanu hits the ground hard, her shoulder crunching against concrete rubble and brick.

Zillah climbs to her feet, looking at the still form on the ground. But then, slowly, the rookie picks herself up, grey with dust but unharmed.

****

Gavin

At the screen, he cautiously resumes breathing. Pirate spares him a glance, then looks back to the low resolution black and white image.

****

Zillah

She doesn't allow time for a reaction, diving forward again and catching Nanu off guard. A flurry of punches knocks the girl's head back, but she just steps away and flicks her hair out of her eyes. Zillah hits faster, harder, and her blows make Nanu double over, unable to retaliate for the moment.

But then she raises her eyes, her gaze clear and unblurred by pain, and Zillah realises she might as well be fighting an Agent.

She steps back and pulls a gun from beneath her jacket.

****

Gavin

He swears and moves toward Mongrel at the desk, but Pirate catches his shoulder.

"Nanu will be fine."

Muscles tense, "How in hell do you know?"

"I just know."

****

Nanu

She stares. The very end of the gun barrel is in sharp focus. "You _said_ unarmed combat."

The woman shrugs, flashes a smile, "I lied."

"No," she shakes her head. "I'm not going on with this until you get rid of that."

"What, are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid of being shot, if that's what you're asking."

"So what are you afraid of?"

"I don't know how stable the programming is. If I try to change it, this sim could crash."

****

Pirate

He sees Mongrel frown and adjust her headset, as if she's not sure what she's hearing.

****

Nanu

"Change it?"

"Just lose the gun."

"No."

"Then it seems we have a stalemate. I'm not going to fight you unless you lose the gun, but you refuse to. So what's going to give, Zillah?"

There is a pause. Uneven light casts uneven shadows.

****

Gavin

They wait, Mongrel at the operator's desk, and the men, Gavin, Pirate, Alloy, Ruck and Jet, all with their eyes fixed to the motionless figures on the screen.

**__**

BANG!

****

Gavin

He makes some strangled sound, staring as the small grey figure of Nanu collapses. He falls to his knees, hands over his ears so he won't hear that hard, dead sound of an ECG flatlining.

****

Zillah

She drops the gun, staring as the air begins to flicker and solidify around her.

She hadn't meant to hit the girl, she had meant to fire off over her shoulder, just to scare her . . . just to scare . . .

But Nanu is crumpled face down in the concrete dust, blood running out of her from somewhere near her neck.

****

Pirate

Mongrel hits keys, trying to shut down the program and send them back to the construct, but the screens are screaming garbage at her.

"Bloody hell - "

"What is it?" Pirate leans over her shoulder.

"It's overloading, I don't know. But she's changing it and I don't know how but the program's going to stall and - "

"Who's changing it?"

"The rookie."

****

Nanu

Her eyes squeezing shut, Nanu tries to overcome the lie.

__

I'm fine, I'm not bleeding, my body is safe in the real world in a shoddy jack-in chair, and Gavin's with me -

Gavin.

****

Gavin

He grips her hand, almost not believing. He can feel her pulse throbbing beneath her skin, see her mouth open and heaving in air.

Nanu is alive. Like a mantra he repeats that in his head, over and over. Nanu is alive.

****

Zillah

She stands rooted to the ground as Nanu raises her head, slowly.

"Help me up."

But she shakes her head, as if refusing to help a ghost.

"This program is on the verge of crashing, if you don't help me up right now we'll both die for real."

Haltingly, the woman in denim moves forward, holds out her hands, and awkwardly pulls Nanu to her feet.

Balanced precariously, Nanu holds Zillah's shoulders, and bows her head.

****

Nanu

__

Quiet, make everything quiet, and calm and stable and normal and safe.

Peace. Be still.

She lifts her head. The air is breathless, the light is even. Illogic no longer flickers in and out of vision.

A deep, unreal inhalation. "Mongrel, you can bring us out now."

***

Eyes open. There is a click and whisper of metal on metal as Gavin removes the plug from her neck.

She turns her head slowly, hurting. She can taste blood on her tongue.

"Gavin?"

He squeezes her hand again, tighter.

"I thought you had . . . " his voice is a murmur, his head is down. Nanu is suddenly aware of the fullness of the room, and the fact Gavin is struggling not to cry. She swallows, and sits up carefully.

"Gavin," she puts her head closer to his. "I'll see you at home."

He hesitates. She can see bruises showing under pale skin, and his lip is bleeding.

"Go."

Without a word, he climbs to his feet, and leaves the small dark room.

****

Pirate

There is an uncomfortable silence. Then the girl looks to Zillah.

"You said unarmed combat."

"I - "

"Why Zillah? Both of us could have died. Is a little more fun worth that?"

"I'm . . . sorry."

"Sorry?" Alloy's hands clench, "You almost killed her!"

"Um," Mongrel fidgets beside Zillah's chair. "I thought she actually did."

Stunned silence. Nanu turns to Mongrel with eyes like a cornered deer.

"There is a story," he begins, talking slowly. Nanu turns her frightened gaze to him. He knows she knows what he's going to say. "A man was killed, but awoke unharmed. In the Matrix."

Jet and Ruck stare blankly at him, Zillah frowns and Alloy laughs nervously.

"Come on Pirate, that's different. That was the One, not some rookie."

Nanu slides out of the chair, and takes a step for the door. But she sways, and it is only Pirate's hand on her arm that stops her from falling. Without another word, the two of them walk carefully away.

****

Nanu

Pirate takes her arm and leads her through the tunnels, through brown stone lit with orange lights. But then he takes a wrong turn, veering away from the main atrium and the barracks of Home.

"Where are we going?"

"My place."

She stops short. "What?"

"It's closer. You're asleep on your feet; you won't be able to climb another six stories, and I don't fancy carrying you."

"You sure?"

"Yes. It's about a minute down this way," they go on again.

***

Pirate's 'place' is small, spare, like a bomb shelter. Concrete and stone walls contain a metal table, one chair, a narrow bunk and a locker against one wall.

"How come you have your own quarters?" she asks, looking around.

"Special grant for services to Zion. I came up with a new design for a weapon in the real world, a thing that can fry a small machine's system with electricity. First year I was out. So I got given this place. Not that I use it much."

"Why not?"

"Too quiet."

"How long have you been out?"

"Five years."

"But you're only young."

"Twenty. I got withdrawn at fifteen. Like you in a way."

"In more than one way."

She sees him smile. He tilts his head to regard her closer as he leans against the closed door. "You know too."

"You've got the gift."

"Not much. Not nearly as much as you. I couldn't save myself like you did."

She looks away. Her shoulder is aching, pain threading down her back and up her neck. She had healed partially while in the sim, but she'll still bruise a lot. And the entry wound will scar.

"Do you want to sit down?"

"I'm fine - "

"No you're not.

"Fine, I'll sit," she has to smile at him.

But she falls asleep almost as soon as she lies down on his bed.

****

Pirate

He watches her relax, watches her begin to breathe deeper.

__

She's like me.

He smiles again, wider this time, then sits down on the ground with his back to the wall, watching her sleep.

***

I would just like to say that I blame this chapter on Zillah. I'm sure I neither wanted nor planned for her end up with a gun. But I think unplugging unhinged her just a little bit.


	22. Dreams

Dreams.

****

Gavin

He sits still on his bed, back against the rough stone wall. His eyes are blank. He's thinking.

Nanu. Nanu had almost died. He isn't sure if she had dies then come back to life. But only Neo could do something like that, right?

Nanu. Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl turned superhero. He remembers Naiomi Harper, he remembers watching her, following her - at a distance - as she walked from school to the station. She was always the same, long dark hair braided down her back, with her fringe in her eyes. She had a way of walking with her head up, her gaze scanning all around her, attentive to every detail and yet, it was as if she wasn't part of it at all.

Naiomi was never a name that suited her. 'Pleasant' was not a meaning she was worthy of, for she was so much more than that.

Nanu suited her better. Even though she was still a schoolgirl copper, there was a quality to her eyes that showed that she could be, _would_ be, more.

Now . . . now. Nanu, the sixteen year old Jack, the teenage girl who has turned their ship upside down, along with their lives. The girl who can look at you with those wide eyes and make you completely forget what you'd been planning on saying.

The girl who saved his life. And he's never thanked her for it. He'd tried to, that morning when he'd woken in the infirmary, but she'd distracted him. On purpose. Why?

Could it be she'd been as awkward about it as he was? About what he'd done . . .

And why exactly had he done _that_? It hadn't been on impulse. Once he'd heard her whisper "Shh, don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here," he'd known he had to do what he had then done.

Blood on his mouth. Tod showed him the coding, now Gavin knows that she has a part of Neo because he'd held the pill in his hand.

And now Nanu has a part of him.

She's never mentioned it. But then, he's never asked.

Asked what?

"Can you read my mind?"

His own voice startles him. But he asks again, quieter. He whispers into the greyness as if she is sitting beside him. "Can you read my mind?"

No answer.

Gavin looks at the digital clock in the wall above the door, showing Zion time and MCS time. It's later in the day that he'd thought; the fight, the challenge obviously took a while.

He lies down carefully, mindful of several jarred ribs and a dozen or so bruises.

Sleep. His only refuge lies in sleep.

****

Nanu

__

. . . to sleep, perchance to dream . . . memories, in the corner of my mind . . . 

She sleeps, deeper than Pirate can guess. She dreams, and remembers how she was before . . . she remembers the life she once led . . .

****

Juno

She stands on a street corner in the rain, wearing a second hand grey jacket and her hair loose.

A car pulls up, an old, black 1970s Lincoln Continental. The rear suicide door opens and a man leans out,

"Get in Juno."

She does so, looking to him as the car begins to move again.

"Where're we going Raven?"

He smiles at her. Black hair sweeps back from a widow's peak, wolf eyes gleam.

"I'm going to show you the world."

***

She watches her last crewmember twinkle out through the phone in the old hotel.

"Your turn," Raven gestures as the phone rings again. Juno picks it up, but there is only a click, then it's dead.

Raven stiffens, tilts his head to one side as if listening. Then he swears softly.

"Juno, they've cut the hardline."

"What do we - "

"Do you trust me?" he asks, moving to the window and holding out his hand to her.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" the window is open, the breeze plays in his hair and the hem of his coat. He's totally calm.

"Yes," she lays her hand in his. Then in one smooth motion he pulls her close against his chest, wraps his arms around her, steps up onto the windowsill and jumps out.

And up. Juno knows that Raven can fly but she's never seen him do it. Now she looks down at the City falling away from them, like a drawing in grey, black and green.

The wind catches in her hair, makes her eyes water. It steals her breath and she can barely catch another.

Raven swoops over buildings and warehouses, then angles downward. With a soft sound like a footfall, he touches down on the path near a subway entrance.

Juno's knees buckle, but Raven holds her up.

"Come on," he coaxes her, the phone in the subway is ringing, calling to them. They hurry down the stairs, his arms supporting her, almost carrying her to the dusty black plastic receiver.

A train roars past them as they reach the booth, the wind sends litter and paper skirling about the platform.

Raven picks up the phone and holds it to her ear.

"You first."

__

. . . static . . .

As she opens her eyes on board the ship, Juno hears a sound like a radio with the batteries running out. The lights die, the monitors blank out.

And voices erupt around her. Questions, curses, yells. Someone starts up the emergency generator, but the damage has been done.

She sits up, looks to Raven in the chair beside her. The screen above his head sheds a soft light on his face.

But the ECG is flatlined, his heart and brain have stopped.

Raven, her captain, is dead.

***

Juno sits on a rooftop, staring out over the City. She's perched on the very top of a building façade, a construction of steel and steel cables.

Dead. He's dead. The EMP of another ship shut down their power, and in doing so severed his mind from his body. And the body cannot live without the mind.

She'd only known him a few months. Only since July, she'd been withdrawn in winter. Now it's January, the height of summer. The sun is bright, pigeons flock in the air around her, there is not a cloud from horizon to horizon.

__

And I thought that it would rain, on a day like today.

He'd changed her life. She'd once been just a normal teenager, now she was a resistance soldier. He _had_ shown her the world.

What had he been to her? More than a captain. More than a crewmate. In a very clichéd way, he'd been a father figure to her.

For she'd never known her real father. She'd barely known her mother. A very successful reporter for a very successful news program, Roxanna Fairfield had had very little time for her errant daughter.

Now both mother and 'father' are lost to Juno.

"Raven," she whispers, little more than a sigh.

A shadow passes over her, she hears a rush of feathers as a bird swoops by her. Juno startles, twists her head - and loses her balance. She slips from the narrow metal ledge, twisting as she falls. Staring up at the sky, she makes no sound.

Then another shadow, a rush of black, and then strength is wrapping around her and she's held tight, in mid air, in the arms of -

"Raven?"

"Juno."

"I thought you were dead."

"Well, maybe I am. I'm not sure."

He carries her a little way up, back to the rooftop. They stand before each other on a tiny square of concrete.

She just stares up at him. Suddenly she reaches out and grabs his hand.

"You're real."

His automatic response; "Your mind makes it real."

"Your body died."

"But my mind didn't."

"Why not?"

He shrugs. "I'm different."

"So you can't leave here?"

"No."

Juno shakes her hair back out of her eyes. "I don't care. You're alive."

***

It's a beautiful day in 2009 or 2149 in real world years. The sunset lights up the sky in, casting shafts of gold through breaks in the clouds, highlighting their edges in silver.

"It's a damn good program," Juno smiles.

"Well it's based on reality," Raven takes off his shades, folding the arms neatly. "Or at any rate, how the real world used to look. The peak of our civilisation, from 1990 to 2009."

"What about after then?"

"It was late 2010 that the first major step was taken toward the creation of the AI."

"When were they made for real?"

"2013. And they rebelled four years later."

"Then the war."

"Yes. The war."

She looks out over the view again. They're side by side, two dark figures sitting in the highest belltower of the cathedral.

The breeze moves around them, carrying smells of food, petrol fumes, people, and the slightest hint of green beyond the City.

Raven suddenly breaks the silence.

"Juno - " he stops. She waits, looking at him. "This is going to sound really odd but I don't know any other way to say this." Another pause. "I'm your father."

Silence. Juno looks away. And back, "You sure?"

She surprises him into laughing. "Yes I'm sure."

"But you said you were withdrawn in 2105, that's before - "

"I know. I met your mother after I left the Matrix. In a rather corny way it was like Lois Lane and," he coughs, "Superman."

Juno studies her hands. "Did you know her long?"

"Unfortunately, no. It was too dangerous one the AI caught on."

"For both of you."

"Yes."

She reclines against the grey stone, tilting her head back. "You don't look old enough to be my father."

"I'm 60"

"You don't look it."

"I haven't really aged since I became marooned here. That's 10 years ago now." He turns his eyes away, taking in the colours of the sky. It's darker now. "I think I'm going to die soon Juno."

"What?"

"It's 2009. September."

"So?!"

"So in three months the years will be set back to 1990. And the AI will alter the reality of every human in here. And I think that means I'll be erased."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm loose code. That's all I am in here. Before long I'll be rewritten."

"But - "

"Juno, please don't make this any harder."

She falls silent, just looking at him. His wolf eyes are still sharp, but his face is sad and resigned. As difficult to come to terms with as it is for her, it must be so much harder for him.

"Juno moves forward, throwing her arms around him and hugging him, she on her knees, him with his back against the bell tower wall. around them the world continues to hum, lights turn on throughout the City as the sun continues to fade.

He rocks her slowly back and forth, stroking her hair. "Shh, it's ok. It won't be forever."

"I'm going to miss you."

"You'll see me again."

"How?"

"In another life."

She sits back on her heels, still clutching his hand. "What do you mean?"

"The Oracle told me I'd come back."

"When?"

"She's not sure. But it's gonna be good," he smiles. "She was talking like it was a legend, _'His coming will hail the destruction of the Matrix, end the war, bring freedom to our people.'_ I can't wait!"

Juno shakes her head, smiling through tears. "Only you could possibly make this funny."

He smiles back, squeezes her hand. "We do have another three months."

"That's not long enough. I only just found out you're my dad. I've never had a dad."

'We'll make the most of it."

"Just don't take me fishing."

He breaks up at that, his laughter echoing and causing the bells above them to thrum. "I'll take you flying instead."

She gets slowly to her feet. A last stream of light shines, silhouetting his form as he leaps from the tower. His long black coat ripples as he curves up, his head tilted back, his eyes shut.

Raven, like a black bird he flies.

Her father. In that connection alone, she holds a part of his soul.

He comes back, holding his hands out in invitation. She jumps, the wind pulling at her coat, her hair.

And Raven catches her.


	23. Gavin

Gavin.

****

Nanu

She opens her eyes slowly. The room is dark, the lights are out.

Very slowly she sits up. Pain lances through her neck and shoulder, and she stifles a sound.

Pirate is asleep on the floor, curled up near the doorway. Nanu doesn't move, she just watches him, trying to judge if she can get out without waking him up.

She'll have to. Gavin's waiting for her.

Very carefully she slides off the bed and stands. Walking as lightly as she can, she crosses the room and stops next to the man on the floor.

Nanu reaches over Pirate and curls her fingers around the door handle. She turns it, and gingerly pulls it open. A pause. The cool draught does not wake him. There is just enough space for her to slip through.

She steps over him, easing her weight from her left foot to her right. He moves in his sleep, and she freezes, fighting as insane urge to giggle. If he wakes and sees her standing astride him like this . . .

That would be a situation best summed up with a *cringe*

He relaxes again. She lifts her other foot and slips through the door, closing it silently behind her.

*Phew*

****

Gavin

He begins to wake as the door opens softly. The lights is still on, a dim golden glow.

He feels rather than hears the door shut. He stays still, lying curled on his side with his face to the wall.

****

Nanu

She pauses, just looking at him. She can see a glint of socket under his hair, and in his arms; he's taken off his shirt and is sleeping in a singlet.

He looks so much like a child. She inhales, smelling him painfully familiar.

****

Gavin

"I can't see you," he whispers, "but I know you're there."

"City of Angels," she whispers back.

"Why are you here Nanu?"

"I wanted to see you." She doesn't hesitate, she says the words clearly, simply. Honestly. Five little words. Is he reading into them too deeply? Taking them too far? Letting what he feels affect . . . what _does_ he feel?

"I'm sorry," he says to the wall.

"What for?"

"For that day at the Lafayette. And for not trusting you to look after yourself."

There is a thoughtful pause. "There's no reason to be sorry. And you were right about the program anyway, it was a shoddy thing to get stuck in."

He rolls over and looks up at her.

Nanu. Her hair is still short and spiky, and she's still so thin. Her shirt is loose around her neck; it hangs to the side to reveal one shoulder. He can see the beginnings of a bruise and a mark that will scar.

She looks far older than sixteen. This is not Naiomi Harper.

Gavin sits up slowly.

He can see a new hardness to her eye that was not there when he saw her last.

Abruptly she turns from his scrutiny, laying her hand on the door.

"Wait," he stands, ignoring the pain in his ribs.

She stops.

"Something's happened. Tell me." The looks at the curves of her neck and the back of her head, the tense lines of her shoulders.

"You wouldn't understand."

"I'll try."

She turns back to him, leans against the door, and launched into it. "I've lived before. The Oracle told me she remembered my soul, and that I had to see Morpheus about it. When I went to see him he showed me his memories. I saw I woman, Morph's captain. Her name was Juno, and she looked like me. I used to be her.

He sits down carefully.

"Juno's captain was Raven, the first One. He was also her father."

"Raven had no children."

"No legitimate children anyway."

"Oh," he tries to absorb this as she continues. Without knowing it, she's telling a history no one remembers.

"In 2139 real world time, Raven's body was killed by another ship's EMP. He'd been on the way back from Juno's trip to the Oracle. At first everyone thought he was gone but then Juno met him inside the Matrix.

For another ten years he fought the war with them from the inside out. He was superman after all. But in 2149, it was 2009 in the Matrix and the time had to be looped back at the end of the year. Raven died for real, his mind was erased."

She closes her eyes and tilts her head back as she finishes.

"And you saw it all again?" he asks quietly.

A slow nod.

"So, if Juno was Raven's daughter, it's like Neo's your dad?"

"No," her eyes open. "I am no more Juno than Neo is Raven. I used to be her. This soul used to be hers."

"Oh," he's having trouble getting his head around this.

"Morph said you wouldn't understand."

How can she say so little and say so much? In five words she'd given him some form of hope, now with another five she crushes him.

****

Nanu

She watches him look down at his hands, and feels worse then bad. Of course he can't understand this, but he's _trying_ to.

"I'm sorry Gavin," she moves away from the door and kneels in front of him, seeking eye contact. He avoids it.

What age gap there ever was has disintegrated. She has grown years in the past hour, and he has been left behind.

"Thankyou," he begins, words tumbling over each other. "Thankyou for saving my life."

She studies his down-turned face. "It's nothing - "

"No," he looks up. Almost audibly their eyes meet. "I would've died. So thankyou."

Nanu moves to get up but he squeezes her hand. She doesn't remember him taking it.

"Don't go. Don't come then go and leave me alone again."

"Gavin," just saying his name like this feels . . . right, and the taste of his name in her mouth begs her to stay. But reason battles with the other part of her that doesn't look away from his eyes. "This can't happen. You don't know what you're really asking."

"All I know is that I want you to stay here. With me."

She has to look down. She studies their hands together, the wonderful feeling of his skin totally still and motionless under hers.

She's too young for this, but she feels like she's lived eighty years. He's meant to be the mature one, but there's a quiet innocence in his unmoving hand that's hurting her in the nicest way.

"Okay," she breathes. "And thank_you_," she forces herself to lift her eyes to meet his. "You saved my life this morning."

"No, I - "

"If you hadn't have been there, I think I wouldn't have gotten up again. I needed you than and I need . . . "

A silence. Her unspoken words wind around them. His hands are shaking.

She leans forward, raising a hand to the back of his neck, and carefully tilts her head to kiss him. Like the day in the Lafayette, it's unbelievingly soft. She leans back, breathing him in slowly.

His unsteady hands lift to her shoulders, and unlike the day in the Lafayette, the next kiss leads to another.

__

[Heeheehee, fade to black-ness!]

****

Nanu

She lifts her head from the pillow, looking around the unfamiliar room. The clock above the door displays the time, still too early to be up Zion time, but 10:14 MCS time.

She lies down again on her side, curled up with Gavin. She spends a moment just being aware of how her arm feels lying across his ribs and around his back.

He moves, shifting in his sleep, pulling the blanket into a new organisation. She feels it against her bare skin.

__

What have I got myself into?

Well for one, someone else's bed.

She can see her clothes on the floor, they seems a very long distance away. She can remember the sequence of taking them off last night, remember Gavin laughing at the stiff buckles of her boots getting stuck.

He's sleeping peacefully now, his blonde hair tangled a little and falling over his closed eyes. She hadn't realised until last night how long his hair was. His eyelashes are long too, almost white, and his eyelids are so pale she can see the tracery of veins under his skin.

She relaxes, lets her eyes drift closed. And she listens to him breathe. What is she going to say when he wakes up?

****

Gavin

He opens his eyes. Nanu seems to be sleeping. He watches her, and smiles.

The turmoil of yesterday has been laid to rest. For better or worse, he knows her now, and he knows what he feels.

"Nanu," he breathes. She doesn't move. "I love you."

Inhale, exhale. Her eyes remain shut. The clock on the wall clicks over the minute loudly, then silence reigns again. She sleeps on.

He closes his eyes again.

"Ditto."

He starts, eyes opening. Nanu is awake, _was_ awake all along. And she's grinning at him.

He laughs, sitting up, "You sneak."

"Yeah well, I'm a good sneak."

"Damn good." He smiles down at her. The light gleams gold, and it makes her eyes glow the same colour.

****

Nanu

She stares up at him, wishing she had paint and canvas. The globe in the room is yellow, and the effect is of candle or firelight. Shadows curve around the muscles in Gavin's arms, shoulders and bare chest, and around his plugs. Despite his smile he looks tired and sore; there are bruises on his body and dried blood on his lip.

Slowly sitting up, Nanu leans forward and cautiously kisses the blood away. Gently, she smooths the hair back from his face.

He smiles faintly as she pulls back. "I've always wanted to be in this position."

She doesn't tell him to shut up, not this time. They sit in his narrow bed, their legs tangled and the blanket wrapped around them both.

Nanu runs her hand over his face, over the bruises he earned yesterday.

"I'm sorry you were hurt," she whispers.

"I'm fine. Compared to you I got off easy." He raises his hand to her neck, traces the mark of the virtual bullet with a finger before kissing it.

"Gavin," she asks, "what are we going to tell them?"

"About the Challenge?"

"About, _this_." She gestures to include the room, their scattered clothes, them together.

He lies back down, making room on the pillow for her. "Why do we have to announce anything? This kind of thing isn't uncommon on ships."

"I just don't want Neo or the captain to find out the wrong way."

"It'll be fine," he smiles upwards. "Come back here will you?"

She smiles and kisses him again. Neither one of them notices their lack of artistry, and neither one of them cares.

****

Gavin

"Were you serious before?"

"Before when?"

"Before I said ditto?"

Gavin smiles and turns his head to see her. She rests her head on his shoulder, looking up at him. "I've never been more serious in my life."

"Good," but she doesn't smile back. "Because, I love you. And that may well be the most overused phrase in the English language, but I'll use it again."

He laughs, drawing her closer and feeling her laughter reverberate through him.

"Hey," she says after a moment. "I can hear your heart."

"Well that's good to know."

Gavin pulls the blanket up over them both and wraps his arms around Nanu, holding her close against him. In the dim light, she's a small warm shape. And after a while, they drift off to sleep again.

/mush

This is one of the single weirdest things I've ever written, and I can't decide whether to huggle or despise it. I think it's both simultaneously.

And I'm really sorry for chopping up the flow with POV changes, but I couldn't _not_ put them in.


	24. Loose Ends

Loose Ends.

**Trinity**

This early in the morning, the Home mess hall is quiet. A few sailors, Jacks and Zion-born, huddle in one corner, seated on tables and benches. They nurse mugs of heated water, and share crackers among each other. They're a motley crew, but they are a family of sorts. Words of their discussion drift across to where Trinity waits for Neo.

The sailors talk of theory, history, and implications of events. One Jack, a young woman, doesn't see why the mind should die when separated from the body.

"Look, the body cannot live without the mind," a Zion-born insists, his voice exasperated. It seems this 'discussion' has been going on for some time.

"You've said that already Ruck," the girl waves a cracker in annoyance. "But you haven't said how you know beyond a doubt that it's true."

"Everybody knows – "

"Every coppertop _knows_ the world they live in is real, so don't try that for logic."

Trinity suppresses a smirk, turning her shoulder so they won't see her eavesdropping. She recognises the sailors now; Biosa's crew.

"Anyway, I don't see why it should be true the other way around."

"Maybe the mind needs a home, a shelter of something," another Jack, Radar, suggests.

The girl, Wraith, seizes his words, "But what if there was a construct that could provide a home?"

Trinity pulls her mug of water closer, wetting her throat. It sounds like Wraith has heard tell of Morpheus. Hopefully the version he heard was too close to the truth to sound realistic.

"Are you religious?" a new male voice interrupts, one Trinity doesn't immediately recognise.

"Um, not really, no," Wraith seems momentarily thrown.

"Because if you think that souls can exist independently of the body, as in, go to heaven and live happily ever after, then maybe you could say the same thing for the mind."

No one speaks. Trinity listens closely, the boy has a good point.

"I don't follow you," says Ruck.

"Do you think the mind and the soul are similar?" the young man directs his question to Wraith. "Or even something like the same thing?"

The young woman considers, turning her half eaten cracker over and over. "I guess so. At least in the fact that they're both not physical objects."

"Do you think that souls need a vessel in order to continue to exist?"

"Most religions say they don't."

"So, according to that, the mind _can_ live without the body. But who's to say that the mind has to exist in this plane?" he taps his empty mug on the bench top for emphasis.

Trinity shifts where she sits, scanning the group from the corner of her eye. The strange Jack is young, with light brown hair tied in a bandana. Tattoos wind up his arms and neck.

Pirate. She should have known.

"Why can't the soul just float around?" he raises angular eyebrows, his whole stance a question.

Neo's hand on her shoulder almost makes her jump, she'd been so engrossed in the debate.

"Good morning," he hops up onto the table beside her. "How's the Neb?"

"She's rested and ready to roll."

"What're you up to?"

"Listening," she glances over to Pirate again, he's managed to get the whole crew listening to him.

"Right," Neo looks back to her. "Have you seen Nanu come down yet?"

"No. What's she got in store today?"

"I have to take her to get her papers," his shoulders hunch slightly, a habit that once belonged to the underfed rookie who wore a blanket like a cloak. "It's such a horrible system."

"Think of it like citizenship."

"It still feels like having a pet microchipped."

She places a hand on his knee. He smiles down at her faintly. "She was due down here at seven, she's running late."

Trinity shrugs, making a small allowance, "We ran at a different time back on the ship, she's not used to the change."

"Still, I'll have to fetch her in a minute if she doesn't come down."

"Look who's here to fetch you."

Neo turns, looking over his shoulder. BC is skipping through the hall, a few steps ahead of Tank and Achi. She runs up to their table, clambering up onto the bench beside Trinity.

"'Lo rascal," Neo laughs, ruffling her hair. She catches his hand, smiling back up at him.

"'Lo daddy," after a pause she turns to her mother. There is no giggling or grinning, only a slow, precious smile.

"She takes after you," Neo observes softly.

As the two Zion-born catch up and exchange greetings, Trinity lets her attention drift back to Biosa's crew.

"Alright," Pirate is saying, "if you don't like the idea of souls just floating around, maybe they get recycled."

"Like the machines?" Radar shudders.

"What if the mind is the same as the soul, and when it 'dies' either in the Matrix or the real world, it is remade in another person? What about that?"

Neo makes to get off the table, "I'm off to find Nanu."

But before he can move, Bobcat scrambles into his lap. Trinity focuses on her daughter.

"What's the matter BC?" Neo asks, looking down at the top of her head.

The little girl turns her face to Trinity, a slight frown creasing her forehead. The expression is like Neo's when he tries to explain the concept of flight. And there are things he knows that no other soul can understand.

Trinity swallows. "I'll get Nanu," she stands. Neo shrugs, patting their daughter's back. BC just closes her eyes.

**Nanu**

She carefully opens the door, holding her coat close around her. She was meant to meet Neo at 0700, but she slept in. stepping onto the landing, Nanu freezes as Trinity comes up the stairs into view.

The woman stops, studying Nanu's face. The girl tries not to look too sheepish.

"That's Gavin's room," Trinity says.

"I know."

It seems like the captain is about to say something, but then stops herself.

Nanu inhales. "What you were about to ask, the answer's yes."

"Alright then. Come on down to breakfast, you're late."

"That, that's it?" Nanu walks forward cautiously.

"I've got no advice or admonitions for you, if that's what you mean. Just don't let it get in the way of work, okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

Trinity smiles at her, and Nanu has to grin back. "Come on, you're late."

***

"So why do I have to be registered?"

"You're a citizen of Zion. Like everyone else who lives here, you need to be kept track of. And you won't be the only one with the name Nanu."

"I thought it was pretty original, seeing as I made it up."

"So it doesn't mean anything."

"I don't think so. Why?"

He lowers his voice, glancing around the busy stairwell as if the populace of Zion are listening in, "Morpheus wanted to know."

"Neo," she takes a few quick steps, catching up to walk beside him. "How many people know about him?"

He doesn't answer straight away, moving on through the crowd on the way to the registration offices.

"Neo?"

"Not many people know. Almost no one knows."

Nanu can guess why. In a city dedicated to the war against machines, it would not be well accepted that an artificial construct was keeping a mind alive.

"We're here," he pauses, opening a door in a side landing and showing her inside.

***

They sit her down in front of a computer terminal, and ask her to fill in the fields shown; her Matrix given name, date of birth, address, school, family details, etcetera, etcetera.

Then Neo takes over and fills in her real world details; her chosen name, the date of her withdrawal in real world time, her ship, captain, and guide. Gavin. She hadn't known he'd had a title.

"You need a surname. What would you like?"

"Um. Grau."

"Meaning?"

"German for grey."

He enters the name. "Just a number then you're done."

"Number?"

The screen flashes, then displays a table with her basic information and links to other details.

**Name**

Nanu (Grau)

**DOW**

24/07/2102

**Ship**

Nebuchadnezzar II

**Captain**

Trinity (Noir)

**Guide**

Gavin (Hawk)

**No. Issued**

143522INT

"I'm not sure that I like this Neo."

"Well I'm sure that I don't but there's not a lot I can do is there?"

"No."

**Gavin**

For dinner that night, Trinity manages to secure a separate room for the Neb crew. For the first time in over a week, they are all together.

He slides onto the bench beside Nanu. Nanu gives him a sidelong glance and a small smile. Trinity glances at them briefly before going back to her food. She knows.

He looks around. Neo, Trinity, Tank, Achi, Key, Tod and Nanu. There is something very final about this gathering. They all eat in silence, taking their slop seriously.

Suddenly Trinity pauses, dropping her spork back into her bowl.

"I have an announcement."

Eyes turn to her. They've all been waiting for this. Only Key keeps her eyes down.

"The day after tomorrow, the ship is going back out. And I'm sad to say we won't all be on board."

Gavin sees Nanu look across to Key. The medic plays with the remains of her meal.

"Key will be moving to the Detox unit."

A congratulatory murmur begins, and Key flushes a little. The Detox unit only takes the best medics. And when Key had still been in the Matrix, she'd been studying to be a surgeon. Unlike so many Jacks, she'll actually be able to pursuer the vocation she wants.

Neo holds up a hand and the talking stops. "Key is not the only one who will be leaving us. Tod has also applied for a transfer.

There is not response to that. Tod looks down, and there is a firm set to Trinity's mouth. Nanu tilts her head as if listening, and frowns.

"As a result, we'll be finding a new crewmember. Just one."

Achi and Tank exchange a smile. Gavin looks to Nanu, she seems confused.

"Meaning we'll be going for a new target," Trinity catches her eye and explains. "Once we've found a new medic, we're leaving."

**Nanu**

"We'll see you when we come back," calls Neo, waving to Key. Then, one by one, the crew begin to board the ship.

Nebuchadnezzar the second looms her, a mass of plated grey and rivets. Nanu's steps slow.

Her real life began on this ship. It is more of a home to her than Zion will ever manage to be.

She ducks under the ship, tracing her fingers along the plate metal, then pulling herself up through the hatch. The curved lines of piping and wiring gleam blue and shadowy. Metal, all around her. Steel that echoes underfoot. Her ship.

Home.

Nanu follows Gavin up to the main deck. The familiar shapes of the chairs greet her, the familiar pattern of wires and cables wound around the rails and walkways around the walls reassure her. Trinity and Achi have continued up to the bridge, only Gavin and Neo remain on deck.

"Good to be back?" Neo smiles.

She replies with her trademark feral grin, "Hell yes."

There is a rumble, then a muted roar as the engines start, and a slight tilt to the deck as the ship lifts from the ground. The three of them move to the galley to ride it out.

***

Nanu greets every surface of the galley with a faint smile, taking a seat on the table while Neo double checks the cupboard doors are all shut and locked.

"So, where's the new recruit?" Gavin asks.

"He's on board already. I showed him to his cabin this morning."

Nanu closes her eyes. Something is calling for her attention, asking her to listen. Like a presence, it's familiar, it's –

"Pirate," Neo pours a cup of water. "There you are."

Her eyes snap open.

"Where were you?" asks Gavin. Nanu fidgets, she hadn't thought to ask who their new medic may be. She'd never expected Pirate.

"Accidental detour," he tucks hair out of the way under his blue bandana. "The Solomon has a very different layout to this ship."

There is a brief quiet. Pirate has that effect sometimes.

"So, um, what happens now?" Nanu directs her question to Neo.

"We go back into the City and start from scratch, looking for a new target."

"Great," she smiles. "I've missed flying."


	25. A New Target

A New Target.

**Nanu**

Five am. She climbs into the operator's chair, rotating her shoulders and pulling a keyboard within reach. She runs through the motions; activate a side screen, open the chat site search, scanning for keywords, looking for a name.

They have a new target.

She finds something, brings it into focus. Smiles. Another discussion about the limits of the world. This target has established a reputation for picking arguments, on fantasy and scifi based forums all over the net. Even his role playing characters have the same symptoms. He sounds a little like herself, not a hacker, just a boy who refuses to accept that the world he knows is all there is.

The screen refreshes. The other user he was talking with has left, and the target is now alone.

[any lurkers] he writes, [this is your cue to some out.]

Nanu hesitates, then reaches for the Qwerty keyboard.

[Hello Wolf]

At another keyboard, she begins to search through his file, looking for his address.

[hi Lurker, a/s/l?]

She finds it, and punches in the coordinates. A screen of Matrix blanks and refreshes, showing his house.

[I can't tell you that Wolf.]

[why not?]

Nanu patters at the keys, navigating though the house to his room. Strings of code set the scene;

_bed__ against the wall under a shelf . . . clutter . . . computer on . . . dim light . . . curtains closed_

[Because it's not safe.] _That_ gets his attention.

[why??]

_boy__ at desk . . . mousy brown hair . . . glasses . . . green grey eyes . . . torn jeans . . . boots_

"Nanu!"

She jumps as Gavin laughs.

"You scared me."

"That was my intention," he lays an arm around her shoulders. "Who are you chatting to?"

"Who do you think?"

"What's the target say?"

"Asked for my a/s/l."

"How original."

She looks back to the screen. Wolf has spoken again.

[Lurker? you there?]

[Do you ever feel] she types [as if you are being watched?]

[yes] is his instant reply. [all the time]

On the code screen, she sees him lean forward expectantly.

"Watch your time," Gavin warns. She shrugs his arm off, and frowns.

"I know what I'm doing."

[I have to go now Wolf]

[no!!]

The green code runs faster;

_slams__ fist on desk . . . speaks aloud . . ._

[calm down Wolf, I'll talk to you again. but in the meantime, try not to be late for school]

[what are you talking about?]

[bye]

She breaks off the internet connection, vacating the seat for Gavin, who jumps into the Matrix to erase all traces of her presence online. Then, with a wicked smile, he crashes Wolf's computer.

"Gavin!"

"Hey," he holds up his hands in surrender. "When he reboots he'll find his drives defragged, his virus protection updated, and a desktop that reads 'the Matrix has you'."

"Really?"

"Really really."

She smiles a little, forgiving him. "Shrek."

"You never give up on that game do you?"

"Never say die."

**Pirate**

He looks up as he hears singing. It's Nanu.

The door opens and she comes in, bouncing on her toes and humming a song he doesn't know.

"Morning," she smiles, crossing the galley to the cupboards. Gavin arrives, moving straight to the dispenser. Nanu holds up one bowl at a time, and he pulls the levers for her, once, twice.

As they go to sit down, Pirate wonders why Nanu is so bouncy. A few words of the song spill over as he listens,

_. . . hey Monday mornin' see what you're missin' . . ._

mixed with a feeling of rushing air. But then Nanu throws him a sharp look. She can hear him listening to her.

**Gavin**

He catches the look that passes between them, and doesn't like it. There's something about Pirate that Gavin can't pin down, and he can't figure his connection with Nanu.

But there is so much about Nanu that he does not fully understand.

**Neo**

He stands on a street corner, eyes shaded as he scans the urban landscape. It's 9:15 am, and a certain target is late for school.

The boy walks down the street toward him. He's about Nanu's age. He slouches along with his head down, hair falling over his face.

He's a potential. Neo has his eye on several, this is the youngest. He's not particularly brilliant, but he performs far above the standard for both his software design and extension maths classes, and has a track record for getting out of difficult bullying situations.

Scuffing footsteps near him, then continue on. Neo suppresses a smile.

You just walked past the most wanted man in five continents, he thinks, and you don't even know.

But Wolf just goes on his way, an apathetic shadow late to school.

***

Tank unplugs him carefully.

Neo sighs as he sits up. "Believe it or not I've missed that static."

"Zion isn't always all it's cracked up to be is it?"

"Not for me at least."

There is a clanging noise as Achi climbs up onto the deck.

"How was Wolf?" Tank asks Neo.

"Late again. He's worse than I used to be."

"_That bad?"_

"Captain," Achi steps up to them. "Our water levels are lower than they're meant to be."

"Stop the presses," Tank mutters.

"Leaking?" Neo asks.

"No leaks sir, but the lid was off one of the drums."

"How low are they exactly?"

"There's a litre or so that's not accounted for."

Tank scratches the back of his neck, "Three days out of Zion and we've got another mystery. Brilliant."

"Where's Trinity?" Neo looks to Achi.

"The captain's on the bridge, captain."

There is a moment of quiet when Achi cuts herself off, looking confused. Then Tank snorts, and Neo has to laugh out loud. Achi tries to suppress a giggle and fails.

"Achi," Neo wipes his eyes, standing back up straight. "How long have you been on the Neb with us?"

"Three years," she hiccups.

"That's long enough to figure that Trinity's the captain here I think. Okay?"

"Yes sir."

Tank doubles over again, laughing helplessly.

**Pirate**

He climbs up through the hatch, curious to see what the joke is. Seeing Neo standing with the two Zion born, Pirate asks,

"What's up captain?"

And he stares in bewilderment as the three of them erupt in gales of laughter, Tank doubling over with his hands on his knees.

_This is one weird ship._

**Trinity**

She raises her eyebrows as Neo comes through the door.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Had to be there," he grins. "Have you looked over the target files?"

She nods. "Wolf, GreyArea and the guy who keeps changing his name."

"Any stand out to you?"

Trinity levels her gaze as he sits down in the co pilot's chair beside her. "Wolf's young."

"Too young?"

"That depends."

He's quiet. She knows he knows what she means.

"He's nothing like Nanu is he?"

"No."

"I'm not sure that we should make a habit of withdrawing kids with teen angst and nothing else to their name."

"Nanu's contacted him," he not so subtly changes tack.

"Chat?"

"Yeah."

"What'd she say?"

"Not enough, but enough to keep him on the hook. You taught her well."

Trinity smiles faintly, turning back to the front window. The darkness outside calls to mind the shadows of Club Eden. Alone against the wall, what a way to pick up.

"I tried to contact Mr Indecisive," she switches tone. "But he's as slippery as a paranoid eel."

"Can you blame him?"

Nothing moves in the smoky half-light. "No."

There is another pause. Neo looks around the bridge, absently checking screens and readings. Trinity listens to their breathing, and the faint lilt of voices further back in the ship. The slight hum of the Neb itself is comforting.

"I like this," he says after a moment.

"What?"

"Companionable silence. Not having to say anything."

"Hmm . . . " her lip quirks. "I was enjoying it too, until you opened your mouth."

He bounces up, reaching around the back of her chair, laying his hands on her stomach.

"Apologise," he laughs into her hair.

Trinity wriggles, trying to move her arms, but he has them securely pinned. "Neo, don't."

"Apologise," he threatens, drumming his fingers a little.

She squirms, "Stop it."       

"One last chance," he whispers into her ear, his voice low.

"Never!" then she stifles a squeak as he begins to tickle her.

**Nanu**

She pauses in her breakfast, listening. Trinity and Neo are fooling around on the bridge, but they're quiet so the crew won't hear them. Nanu wonders what Pirate would say of Trinity being so ridiculously ticklish, and grins.

"What's so funny?" the jack in question asks, coming back into the galley to resume his breakfast.

"Nothing."

"I don't get this ship," Pirate frowns. "Everyone's laughing."

Gavin shrugs, "I s'pose we're glad to be out again. Zion can be boring for a sailor."

"Oh I don't know," Nanu smirks. "Challenges can be interesting."

"Well if you fancy getting yourself killed then Zion's a barrel of laughs, but for normal people – "

Pirate downs the last of his food and gets up from the table, muttering, " . . . high on sugar the lot of them . . . "

***

"We're going in."

All around the table people freeze, sporks halfway between mouths and bowls. All eyes turn to Neo.

"Define 'we'," Nanu cuts in.

"We have three potential targets," he continues. "Wolf, GreyArea and, currently, Crow. Tomorrow we'll be splitting up into groups and going separately after Grey and Wolf."

"You haven't defined 'we' yet."

"Those of us following Grey will be Pirate, and I. Trinity and Nanu will be with Wolf."

Nanu looks over at Gavin. He's staring at Neo, expressionless.

"Further briefing will be done tomorrow. In the meantime the deck had to be checked over before lights out."

They all scrape the last of their dinners and get up to leave at that dismissal, excepting Neo. As Nanu reaches the galley doorways he says, "Nanu. Get back here."

She returns to the table, suddenly feeling like a kid caught with stolen cookies.

"Sit down."

She's never seen Neo so serious. It's a drastic contrast to his mood this morning.

"We're getting a new recruit soon Nanu. Meaning that within two months you will no longer be juniormost on this ship. You need to clean up your act. You know as much as Gavin or Pirate, you'll be asked to operate at their level before long. No one is going to cut you any more slack.

"And you need to learn that there are times when being a smartass isn't appropriate."

"Sorry Neo."

"Are you sure you are?"

She keeps her eyes down, her hands knotting in her lap. "Yes sir."

Neo's voice is impassive and somehow harsh. He's never been angry at her, and this sudden pull of rank skews her view of him.

"This is a war Nanu."

She looks up.

_. . . sad . . . loss . . . regret . . . anger . . . loneliness . . . death . . ._

And Neo hasn't seen as much as some. She dodges his gaze.

"When we go in tomorrow, I want you to be careful. It's dangerous," her annoyance must show in her eyes because he presses the point, "even for you and me it's dangerous. We can't afford to underestimate Cunningham, not to mention what the AI may be capable of. Trinity spoke to you?"

"Yes sir, she told me the Matrix can read minds."

"Including yours. Maybe even especially yours."

She swallows.

"I'm relying on you Nanu," she meets his eyes reluctantly, he speaks gentler now. "There are things you can do that I can't. I need you to look after Trinity."

_Trinity?___

"I doubt she'd appreciate that . . . sir."

"So don't let her know."

Even in the midst of war, death and pain, he still takes the time to care for Trinity. And, Nanu realises, he also worries for his crew.

Including her.

He gets up from the table, she copies.

"You've got work to do," he smiles. She hesitates, then steps forward and hugs him. He lays a hand briefly on her hair, then moves her away.

_. . . I've never had a dad . . ._

Something echoes, something akin to déjà vu. It's important, this reflection of the past, but she can't get a fix on it.

***

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"With what?"

"With the run tomorrow."

"What run tomorrow?"

"Gav_in," Nanu considers thumping him with a pillow but restrains herself."_

"What should I not be okay about?" he asks, not quite serious.

"Being left behind."

"I'm fine with staying behind," he tightens his arm around her. "But I wish you weren't going ahead."

She would lean her head on his shoulder, but she's too tall. "I'm sorry."

"Orders are orders. It's the life we lead."

A thought occurs to her, "Do you ever get to hate it?"

"No," he says simply. "Like I said, it's our life. We make the best of things." He pauses at a faint buzzing sound. Then he shifts, uncrossing his legs and lying down on the bunk. Nanu follows suit, laying her head beside his as one by one, the ceiling lights flicker and die.

"Sunset."

"You'd better be home to see tomorrow's."

He sounds like he's joking, but the tenseness in the muscles under Nanu's hand speaks of his fear. Not to mention the undercurrent of

_. . . Cunningham . . . gun . . . blood . . ._

"I promise I'll come back Gavin," is her solemn vow.

She can hear his smile in the dark. "I'll hold you to that."

***


	26. Raven Feathers

Raven Feathers.

**Nanu**

It doesn't take them long to find him. The two of them climb the fire escape of a building opposite Wolf's school, and watch. Within seven minutes, he comes into view.

"Late again," remarks Trinity.

"Did you watch me like this?" Nanu asks.

"_I was once watched like this." The captain pulls out her cell and hands it to Nanu. "Call him."_

"Me?"

"You're less threatening."

Nanu dials the memorised number. Across the street, the boy pauses as his bag begins to ring. He rummages through it, and finds his phone.

_– Hello? –_

Nanu suddenly has no idea what to say.

_– Hello? –_

Trinity holds up her hands, she's not going to help.

_– Lurker? –_

"Hello Wolf."

On the street opposite them, he lifts his head, stands a little straighter.

_– Hey Lurker, I know your a/s/l –_

There is a grin in his voice.

_– Age, teenage. Sex, female. Location, within reception –_

"How diabolically clever of you. But how do I know your name?"

Silence.

"And how did I get your number?"

Silence.

"And how am I watching you right now?"

_– Are you going to tell me? –_

"One day, perhaps."

_– Is this to do with the Matrix? –_

Trinity gives an approving look. Nanu feels her lip curl.

"Definitely."

_– What – ? –_

"You're already late for school Wolf, and you have a math test first period don't you?"

_– How – ? –_

"Bye now. I'll be seeing you."

She hangs up. Down on the pavement, Wolf lowers his phone and frowns at it. Then he shakes his head, and slowly continues to the school gate.

Nanu sags, leaning against the concrete of the building's façade.

"You're good at this," Trinity says softly. "He's baffled."

"I hate this. I hate confusing him."

"Keeps him curious."

"I still hate it. And from what Neo said we might not even get him out."

"If we don't someone else will."

"It won't be the same."

Sudden quiet. Trinity sighs. "I knew this would happen."

Nanu doesn't speak. She's already said more than she meant to.

"I asked Neo not to let you be the guide this time. Don't get that wounded look Nanu, it's a fact you have to live with that there are things you don't know yet.

"I should have at least warned you. It's the most common thing in the world for the guide to become somewhat attached to their target. I've been assigned to dozens of potential new crewmates, and it's never easy letting them go. Another ship usually picks them up, but it's like finding a stray cat you have to give away."

Nanu doesn't move, she barely breathes for fear of distracting Trinity. She's never spoken so openly before, and even if it might not be the wisest thing to be doing, Nanu can't help listen, with all senses she possesses.

"And there's nothing that makes it easier. There's nothing you can do to stop a target treating you like you're some kind of angel. I've tried over the years to guard myself, become immune – "

_. . . Neo . . . _

" – but I never can."

_. . . the__ Trinity? That cracked the IRS D-base? . . ._

"Everyone of them treats you differently, but essentially the same. You become the world to them, when they have no one else to turn to."

Nanu ducks her head. Echoes begin to ricochet at odd angles from the concrete around them, and they make sounds like harp strings in Nanu's ears.

She shouldn't have listened so deeply. There is a scent of danger now.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Like a faint headache, it will go away.

**Pirate**

The woman sits at the front desk of the public library, scanning books in a bored manner. She doesn't notice Pirate as he browses the shelves and pretends to not be watching her. He lets his fingertips dust over book spines, feeling cheap plastic covers wrinkle and words itch his skin, wanting to be read and remembered. The air in here is thick with thought and memory.

After a minute he slips out to the foyer, again unnoticed. He takes out his cell and phones Neo, who is patrolling the rooftops somewhere.

_– Hey, how is she? –_

"Bored out of her skull."

_– Liven up her day then – _

Pirate hangs up. GreyArea is only a year younger then himself, he hopes he can make a good impression.

He breathes in, _You__ can do this. He puts on his shades, runs a hand through his hair. Straightening the collar of his leather jacket, he goes back in to the library._

This time she notices him.

He moves up to the desk, walking in the way that had first caught Nanu's attention.  There is no one near them as he leans against the cheap plywood between him and the woman.

"Bianca isn't your real name is it?" he makes his voice low and smooth. Animal.

_. . . afraid . . . curious . . . he hears from her._

"Your real name is GreyArea."

"How do you know that?" she keeps her voice as low as his, clenching the book in her hands. William Gibson's Neuromancer, Pirate notes with amusement.

"I know a lot about you." The pick up line that never fails.

"Who are you?" she leans a little closer. He catches the scent of her perfume.

"I'm a friend of Neo."

**Nanu**

By the time they reach the doorway of the old warehouse Nanu's headache is gone. The harp strings have stopped singing in her ears, and she even skips up the steps.

"You seem cheerful," Trinity comments.

"It's so free in here," Nanu smiles.

Trinity stops short. "That's not true Nanu. You know how dangerous it is."

The girl slows to a halt, her head on one side. She considers, but doesn't speak aloud. Even for those with the gift, the Matrix is a dangerous place. But she's made it through before, she's avoided danger in untested sims, faced down agents and rebuilt crumbling programs. If anyone should feel safe in the Matrix, it should be Nanu.

"Sorry Trinity. I guess I've just missed it in here."

The captain nods, and turns away to open the warped plywood door. "Come on then."

But Nanu doesn't reply. She's already rocketing skyward.

**Trinity**

She swears loudly, yanking the door open as a phone begins to ring inside. Trinity runs for it, snatching it off the cradle.

***

She opens her eyes with a start, calling to Tank before she's even unplugged.

"Nanu ran off, keep a close watch on her."

"Why'd she run?" Achi sounds concerned.

"I suppose she missed flying," Trinity crosses to Tank's side, reading code over his shoulder. There's just cloud, speed, and Nanu. Nothing to worry about really.

**Nanu**

Straight up. Breathless. Wind.

She wants to memorise this feeling. She wants to always remember how free she feels. But nothing ever comes close to the drug of breaking every law of the Matrix, of the AI. No manmade sim can give her same euphoric feeling of freedom.

Nanu flies up like a bullet until she is above the clouds. The sky above her is clear and clean and blue.

And not real. But it was once real.

The clouds are white, the sun is beyond colour. She slows into a turn, dancing between the contrasts of warm sun and cool wind, constant movement. Sweeping, gliding, smooth.

Free.

**Trinity**

Achi keeps vigil at one screen, while Tank monitors Pirate's conversation with GreyArea beside her. Both of them scan for an Agent's code, but nothing shows.

"Wait," Achi points. "Did you see that?"

"What?"

"A hiccup or something – "

"A change?"

"I don't know."

Tank looks over to the captain. Trinity stands by Nanu, reading her stats like they hold answers for the girl's motivations.

She sighs, bowing her head. She didn't want to call for help to reign in an errant teenager.

"Contact Neo," she orders Tank. He does so immediately.

**Nanu**

A ripple, a shudder through the air. Nanu opens her eyes, Polaroid muting the sunlight. Something dark moves at the edge of her vision. Feathers?

She turns, and almost falls.

Raven.

**Trinity**

She looks down at the girl, and almost jumps when her eyes flicker open. Trinity glances back to the screen, Nanu's vitals are normal but her alpha pattern is dead flat.

"Oh my God."

Achi calls from near Tank, "Her code is gone."

Trinity reacts on gut instinct. "Gavin!" she yells up the ladder to the bridge. "Get down here!"

**Neo**

"Hey Mr Wizard, what's up?"

_– We've got trouble boss –_

"What?"

_– Nanu's disappeared –_

"Get us an exit _now_."

**Nanu**

"Raven."

"Juno."

"No. I'm not Juno."

A brief look of confusion passes over his features. He looks so much like Neo, except for the longer hair and the shadow of a beard. His clothes are rougher, leather and cotton, and scuffed.

"Then, who are you?"

"I'm Nanu."

"It's all much the same anyway," he smiles. "The same soul."

She moves away, skirling water vapour at her feet. Deny. He's lying. Juno is a personality that is gone, and you are your own person. Who you once were does _not override who you now are._

"You're not real," she decides.

"Yes I am," he laughs, easily. His eyes glint like a wolf's. He has the same abstract grace as Neo.

_. . . the Matrix can read minds . . . maybe even especially yours . . ._

"No, you're not." He looks so much like Neo. But he's _not. "You're dead," she lets the words out harshly._

"I live on – "

"You're part of my imagination. You're just a _memory_. You're not real."

To hurt him like this hurts her.

_. . . I never had a dad . . ._

He's _NOT REAL_.

**Gavin**

She lies in her chair as if dead, tense and breathing slowly. Her eyes are open yet she doesn't blink.

"What in hell happened?"

Nobody answers. Trinity won't look at him.

Gavin almost runs to Nanu's side, where he snatches up her hand. He can feel her pulse under her cool skin. Like before, like the Challenge. She'll be alright.

"Where's Neo?" he asks Tank.

"On his way out."

**Nanu**

"You can't be real, you can't be."

"Why not?"

"Neo – "

"Who's Neo?"

"You _died_ Raven. You came back in Neo. _He's the One."_

"Juno, I don't understand."

"I'm not Juno!"

"Of course you are," he walks closer, as if he doesn't even notice how high they are. "You're my daughter – "

"No!" she takes off her shades to wipe away tears.

**Pirate**

Eyes open. Chill of the real world. Someone pulls his plug for him, and Pirate sits up.

Gavin is beside Nanu, clutching her hand. He's almost screaming without sound, his fear obvious even to Pirate's dull gift.

Tank is scanning code, trying to find some trace of Nanu, Achi is with him, and Trinity is jackig out Neo.

Neo looks around, and swears quietly when he sees their youngest crewmember. "Not again."

"Again?" Trinity demands.

"She did this when she saw Morpheus."

Pirate sits up straighter. So the rumours of the man are true.

"So where is she?" Tank asks, still searching the screens.

"I don't know. She's neither here nor in the Matrix, she isn't really anywhere."

"And what are we meant to do?" Gavin snaps, "Just ride this out?"

Neo sags, "I don't know."

Pirate looks back to the girl. Her mind is elsewhere, clearly. Neither in her body, nor the Matrix. There must be some other plane then that she can reach, somewhere not recorded in code, or beyond the reach of the Neb's signal. But if she has done this before, it means she can return, so what is the danger.

An alarm. Achi kills it quickly.

"What was that?" Trinity asks.

"We may not know where she is, but I think the AI have traced her connection."

"So it's only a matter of time," Neo murmurs, confirming what they all know, "before they find out where we are."

Between Neo, Trinity and Tank, one word echoes out loud enough for Pirate to hear.

_. . . sentinels . . ._

This has happened to them before.

Pirate turns to Gavin, who is mouthing words faintly.

**Gavin**

"You promised me. You promised me."

Feeling eyes on him, Gavin meets the other young man's gaze.

_. . . she's_ like me, in a way you'll never understand . . .__

"Pirate," he whispers, barely loud enough to be heard. "Do something."

**Nanu/Juno**

She feels tired. She's tired of fighting this program, this reality, this duplicity of lives. Memories blur with experiences, and the girl in the sky is no longer sure of whose soul she owns. Arms wrap around her, and Nanu/Juno relaxes in the embrace of Raven/her father. Her vision is fuzzy and confused, but it doesn't matter because she's safe, of course she is, all she has to do is relax and sleep and all this pointless fighting will end very soon.

**Pirate**

"I don't know what to do."

"Call her. I don't know if she'll hear you but call her."

He grips the armrests of his chair. He can only listen, he cannot speak. He has none of the strength Nanu possesses.

But he tries. He brings to mind the image of Nanu waking up after the Challenge, sitting in her chair and reaching for – 

Gavin. Always Gavin. But Gavin is at her side now, as he was before.

_Nanu.__ I told him you'd be fine. Don't make me a liar, come back . . ._

**Nanu/Juno**

To sleep, perchance to dream.

Memories, in the corner of my mind.

Drift back to a time when things were happier. Float back to that twilight in September, to that spring sunset when you flew and danced with your father between the moon and the city and you had a place in the world.

Let go. If you do you will become a art of this dream forever. Because souls are immortal right? And a dream feels like a forever.

Let go. Stop thinking, stop fighting. Let yourself dissolve. Be nothing more than a fragment of code, a memory.

Become a part of this dream.

She can almost see, through closed eyes, a world of lost souls. Lonely ghosts who haunt some realm that's not quite there. Like shadows, like wraiths, they hang suspended in a place that does not know time. Like things that were but are no more. Like memories.

Echoes of harp strings, depths of mind and soul that should not be laid vulnerable in this place. Sounds like ribbons, feathers like notes that are pure. She breathes in, inhaling the feeling of flight and the scent of freedom. In the end of her existence is hidden the most perfect of freedoms.

_you__ promised me . . ._

_don't__ make me a liar . . ._

_you__ promised me . . ._

_I think you've passed my test, or whatever . . ._

_there__ are things you can do that I can't . . ._

_please__ Nanu, you promised me . . ._

Let go.

But then, a small innocent voice, stronger and so much clearer than the others.

_come__ home. you'll make everyone sad if you go._

Sad. A child's word.

_I promise I'll come back Gavin . . ._

_I'll hold you to that . . ._

**Trinity**

Alarms, lights. Proximity Warning.

She looks at Tank. He grips the keyboard with one hand, so tight it may crack.

Trinity gets up, running toward the ladder. Achi follows, and they climb up to the bridge.

Pilot's chair, hit controls. Hologram, blue in the darkness.

"Sentinels," says the Zion born. "How long?"

Read stats. "Five, maybe six minutes." Re-read as the screen flickers. "Christ, even less than that." She inhales, then snatches up the mike. Clicks it on.

"Tank."

Nothing.

"Tank!"

_– Captain? –_

Captain. Yes Trin, you are the ranking officer on this ship.

"Charge the EMP."

Achi's gaze is shocked, and afraid.

_. . . we can't use that until he's out . . ._

Why does history repeat?

She bows her head against her hands. "She's going to make it."

She has to.

**Pirate**

On the deck, Tank follows orders. But Neo, Pirate and Gavin do not move. Their eyes are fixed on the young girl in the chair.

Two of them with the Gift, and one with a bond to her so strong that if she dies he will too.

They wait. They call.

**Nanu**

_Let go._

_I'll hold you._

_Let go of me. I want to sleep._

_No. Wake up. Don't leave._

_Let go of me!_

_No!_

She clenches her eyes shut tight.

Instinct. Scan. One thing stands out loud and clear.

_SENTINELS_

Again, that small voice. Like a note so intrinsically pure it can shatter crystal.

_come__ back!_

Her hands hold black cloth. Clouds whorl beneath and around her.

Raven is nothing more than a memory from a previous life. And the past is the past, unchangeable, and written. There is nothing to be gained from lingering in its shadow. For the future is a path waiting to be trod, waiting to be written.

Let go.

Let go of the past. So what if she never knew her father? The crew is her family now.

Push him away.

She flies alone. Raven is gone.

**Tank**

He exclaims as the code flickers, he can see Nanu again!

**Nanu**

Empty sky. Scan.

Neo.

Pirate.

Gavin.

Father.

Brother.

Friend. Lover.

All calling her back anyway they can.

Phone ringing. Where?

Down.

**Tank**

He swears as Nanu plummets from the sky like a hawk.

RED ALERT

She halts an inch above the pavement, grabbing for the payphone.

**Trinity**

She stares as they come. The one leading is huge, all sheet metal and claws, reaching and shredding the air as it hurtles toward the ship, and she's thinking, not again.

**Nanu**

Eyes blink

Deep breath of frozen air

Plug slides out

A scream, distant

Neo's yell "_Now!"_

Sound. Rush of energy. Blue light.

Green eyes. Silence.

Tears.

Whisper, so soft he has to read the shape of your mouth. "I promised you didn't I?"

Gavin. Touch.

***


	27. Explanations

Explanations.

**Gavin**

The infirmary. Two weeks out of Zion and Nanu is already in her old bunk, wired with monitors and IV tubes. She sleeps, it seems, lying so still she could be carved from stone.

Pirate appears in the doorway. "You don't look surprised."

Gavin makes a wry expression. "It's something you'll learn quickly that Nanu spends a lot of time unconscious."

Pirate smiles. He looks across at Nanu.

"Captain's pretty upset about what happened."

"Trinity?" Gavin asks.

"Yeah."

"Well Nanu shouldn't have been left in there alone."

"Trinity did all she could – "

"Well that obviously wasn't enough." Anger flares like a struck match, too late Gavin tries to quench it.

"You don't blame the captain do you?" Pirate asks softly, raising his eyebrows.

He glares across at their replacement medic. "I don't know who I blame. But it's not something I'm just going to let blow over."

"No one expects you to. But it wasn't Trinity's fault."

Dislike begins to kindle.

Gavin looks back to the sleeping figure of Nanu. Why does she look so much older when asleep? She seems faded, washed out. Like she has before, after flying away from an agent's attack. Like  she does when her mind is exhausted.

After a time, Pirate leaves.

**Tank**

He climbs down the ladder to the storeroom, the lowest part of the ship, right near the engine room. It's not the best of designs, since the warmth from the engines heats the water in its adjacent tanks. Although no bacteria can grow in the purified solution, drinking it warm doesn't enhance the taste.

One of the lids is off the drums now. Weird. Achi said she sealed them all up.

He measures the water level, then checks it against the tally of how many litres have been brought up to deck for drinking, mixing up slop, etcetera. There are several litres not accounted for.

Weird.

He takes a smaller canister off a hook on the ceiling to carry water up to the galley. As he dips it into the larger drum he pauses. Did he only imagine it or did something just move in that far corner?

Tank put the water down, and took a slow step in the direction of the movement. A shape behind a drum of dried food, a small crouching figure –

He is caught off guard as the body springs out of hiding and makes to run past him. He reaches out and scoops up –

Bobcat.

"BC? What in hell?"

Defeated, the little girl softens and leans against him. "Sorry Tak," she mumbles. She can't say his name properly.

"What are you doing here?"

She doesn't speak.

"I'd better get you to Trinity."

"No," she shakes her head, looking up at him with earnest brown eyes. "Infirmree."

"The infirmary?"

"Yes. Nanu."

How can she know that Nanu is there? "Alright then."

Weird.

**Nanu**

Tired. Tired and hurting so much she had gone beyond pain. There was just a curious white feeling in the back of her head.

Eyes open. A presence beyond her field of vision.

_. . . I can't see you but I know you're there . . ._

Gavin. By her side still.

_. . . I'll hold you . . ._

He had kept her together, stopped her from dissolving. But he had not done it alone.

Another presence. A humming, like a tuning fork in water. Like that pure voice that had joined with the others to call her back from fragmenting.

Nanu wants to turn her head but the command doesn't make it all the way.

The humming again.

A small voice. "Nanu."

Bobcat.

BC has the gift. Of course.

_you__ came back._

_you__ helped me BC. Nanu thinks, hoping the girl can hear her. __thank_ you.__

_s'ok__.___

_you're__ stronger than me. To hear Nanu's thought when Nanu has no strength left to project it, BC must be very powerful._

_no__. I'm just older._

Nanu blinks slowly. She catches an impression of years, faces, all of them lives well known and gifted but so many, so many. A three year old, with the wisdom of one who has survived through millennia. An old soul.

BC is lifted up by Tank so that she can kneel on the bunk and look down on Nanu. Her hair falls forward over her shoulders, like Trinity's. Concern is written clearly in her eyes.

_thank__ you for saving my life and a wink is all Nanu can manage. She can't move any more than that, and the effort of forming coherent silent words in her head is streaking the white buzz with burgundy._

"You get better," whispers the little girl. She smiles sweetly down, a vision of quiet confidence and peace.

What is she doing on the ship anyway?

But then Nanu falls back into sleep, and does not think to ask.

**Trinity**

She's on her back, working on the dodgy plumbing system in the bathroom at the tail of the ship. Neo crouches beside her, passing her tools and rags as she needs them.

A spanner slips off the bolt she is turning and strikes her knuckle. Hard. She hisses in through her teeth.

"You okay?"

The skin is grazed, and Trinity sucks her finger in an effort to stop the hurt. She's been shot before, and not made a sound, but one little bump and – 

"I'm fine."

His face appears, looking under the curve of the metal that arches above her. "You want a break?"

"Yeah, okay."

As she squirms out into the open, footsteps approach. Tank, carrying something. He sounds heavier than usual. After being on the same crew for at least ten years, Trinity knows his step well. He comes through the doorway and she sits up, wiping her hand over her mouth.

The something he's carrying is actually someone.

Neo opens his mouth, but hesitates, then closes it.

"I found her in the storeroom," Tank explains. "I guess she's the reason out water levels are low."

"I guess so," Trinity replies softly. For a moment no one speaks. BC just looks at her parents. Sad, she seems, and lonely.

When Trinity speaks it is a whisper. "You know you're too young to live on a ship Bobby."

"Yes."

Tank quietly puts her down, and steps away.

Neo protests, "We can't afford time to go back to Zion."

Trinity stays where she is, on her knees surrounded by wet rags, a spanner in one hand. She studies the little girl carefully, observing her as she would a reflection.

Their daughter. A hybrid of DNA and chromosomes, with a mind and personality and character all of her own. Something pure born of two artificial things.

She sees this child in a way she instinctively knows is different from normal mothers. In truth, Trinity is in awe of her daughter.

"Come here."

Obedience. Hands behind her back.

"You can be good BC. You can behave yourself, and keep out of our way when we're busy," these are statements, not questions. Bobcat affirms them with a small nod. Trinity puts down her tools and holds out her hands.

BC crosses the room and gives her mother a hug, the motion strangely dignified for someone so small. Her face presses into the woman's shoulder, and BC breathes in deeply, then whispers something so soft Trinity can feel rather than hear it.

_Love you Mama._

Neo watches the exchange closely. When BC steps back, he glances at Trinity to confirm. She nods.

He grins, widely.

"Neo, this ship is not going to become a playground – "

But he's already piggybacking BC out of the room, swinging around the doorway and bouncing off up the hall. A little girl's laughter echoes back to them. And in the silence that follows, Tank hands Trinity the spanner.

She sighs and gets back to work.

***


	28. The Questions Continue

The Questions Continue.

**Nanu**

She slides on her shades with a small smile. With the shields of dark glass over her eyes, she is safely anonymous.

Nanu lifts her face to the sky, for just a moment, before reluctantly staying where she is. After several weeks of bad sleeping and light duties, she'd dared to bring up the topic of Wolf with Trinity. She and Neo had been considering focussing on GreyArea instead of the boy, but after the librarian made accidental contact with a member of another crew, they had signed over all her files to the Endeavour. This left Wolf as their only worthwhile target.

Nanu had asked to be allowed to continue as the boy's 'guide', and seeing as she was the youngest and least threatening on their crew, Trinity eventually decided that it was best for Nanu and Wolf.

Gavin hadn't agreed.

Ahead of her, students begin to flood out of the school gate, scattering, some heading for bus stops and others walking home. She sees one, a boy about her age, wearing torn black jeans, a second hand jacket and glasses. Wolf.

Somebody brushes past him, knocking his bag off his shoulder. Without a word, he bends to pick it up.

Nanu feels a tremor, a vibration in the air. She looks up, scanning for danger. Nothing. Her cell phone stays quiet.

There is a scuffle, and when she looks across the street again Wolf is sprawled on the ground.

Most of the students have dissipated, and only a few thickset males remain. They are now sufficiently isolated for a fight to take place.

"Get up four-eyes," the biggest thug taunts.

"Your originality astounds even me," Wolf remarks calmly, getting to his knees.

Nanu moves closer, keeping in the shadows of looming buildings.

Thug number one moves in and grabs the thin boy by his jacket, yanking him to his feet.

"It was _you_ who told, wasn't it Potter?" that insult is only faintly more original than the first. Wolf does hold a skinny, bespectacled resemblance to the character.

"Told what?" Nanu smiles at his tone, hearing clearly how much he'd love to add 'Goyle'.

"That we cheated on the test."

"Oh, were you caught? I did warn you."

"You _told_," the thug insists, gripping the jacket tighter. The threadbare wool tears.

"I told nothing."

The taller boy shoves him away. Wolf stumbles, and is caught by the second in command. He begins to struggle, his arms held tight behind him. He kicks wildly, connecting with shins. But the male holding him does not let go, and the biggest one moves in, ready to punch.

Then Wolf moves again, and Nanu hears the echoes. He stands on one foot, and slams the other heel into the arch of the foot of his captor. The big male goes white. Wolf broke the metatarsal bones. But for a boy so slight to have that force . . .

He slips free, grabbing his bag from the pavement and running for the train station.

Nanu smiles, pulling back around the corner of the building.

***

She meets him again on the station. Looking only a little worse for wear, he sits on a bench, a pad of paper on his lap and a pacer in hand. He's drawing.

Nanu walks up and takes a seat beside him, unnoticed among the many on the platform. She follows the direction of his glances to identify his subject.  It's a young girl, part of a group on the opposite platform. Some are sitting, others standing close together, and Wolf has sketched them in, rough gestures of line and shapes. He hatches blurry lines to show the tree behind the girls, and scratches in the clean sharp edges of the platform and the black iron railing.

"I wonder," begins Nanu, "if they realise they are being watched."

He tenses at the sound of her voice, turning his head slowly to look at her.

"I mean, there they are," she raises a hand. "Lost in their own little world. So absorbed in their trivialities they don't even stop to think that there might be more outside their circle. That they might be being watched." She pauses, and looks back to him. He's looking at her closely, lips parted. "But I know. Because I _am_ on the outside."

He has lowered his pencil. She knows he can tell exactly what she's talking about. "If you wanted to," he begins, "could you show them the outside, make them aware of what is beyond what they know?"

"If they wanted to know, then yes."

He looks away, turning to a fresh page in his sketch book. She waits for what he yearns to say as his hands tell their own words. Quick lines describe shoulders, a neck, the angles of hip and limbs. When he stops moving, his breath is almost short, and he looks more than a little scared.

"Can you show me?"

"What exactly are you looking for Wolf?"

He glances up, and somehow holds her eyes. "An answer. The answer."

"You know the question?"

He doesn't say it out loud, but he mouths the words, "What is the Matrix?"

"The answer is out there. Keep looking. It will find you when you are ready."

"But where am I supposed to look?"

She leans closer and takes the pacer from his hand. The feel and weight of it is so familiar she could steal it. But she only pauses to write a name, brief and simple as any clumsy offering of hope.

Neo.

He gazes at her scrawled handwriting, barely noticing when she tucks the pacer behind his ear.

"Here's your train Wolf. Run along home now."

***

Silence. Rooftop. Wind.

Neo pauses, scanning phosphorescent green. He is alone.

But wait, what is that? A sound on the edge of sight, the code of Agent –

Cunningham.

He whirls, instinctively pulling his gun, but he does not fire.

"Wise, not to waste bullets on one who would not catch them."

"You know I can still kill you."

"I am not truly 'alive' so I cannot be killed. But yes, you could well put an end to my existence."

Agents, Neo's lip curled. They always sounded so damn pompous. Especially Smith.

"Smith was flawed."

The words come out of nowhere, and Neo is only partly surprised. Of course the AI have a superficial access to thoughts.

"Of course," Cunningham inclines his head.

Neo tries to think of nothing, this one sided conversation if unnerving.

"My apologies," the words are lathered with scorn. "It gets to be a habit."

Like killing people?

No response.

"What do you want?" Neo demands aloud.

"I was planning on asking you that."

"What would you care?"

""I never said I _cared_. I am simply curious. One would think that you rebels would have given up by now."

"We don't give up," Neo keeps his gun aimed steadily at the Agent's heart. Through layers of code he can read the rhythm that is the life of the host. Although overridden by the Agent, somewhere in there a human mind is struggling to surface. "We're not like that."

"You don't follow logic. We've given you everything you need, but you still want more."

"You can't kill human nature. We're never satisfied with lies."

"Ah," something very close to a smile contorts the Agent's features. "Yet how does one manage to proclaim the Truth to this sleeping world? Or should I say, how does _the_ One?"

Blank.

Cunningham laughs, a chilling sound. Through the rattle of distorted code, he smirks, and perfectly imitates Morpheus' voice. "And his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix, end the war, bring freedom to our people."

Neo fires, the bullet planting itself in the agent's unwary heart. Cunningham folds to his knees, his face turning pale. But still he smiles, cold.

"As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free."

Neo crosses the roof, crouching and shoving the gun roughly against the Agent's chest.

"You don't believe in fate Anderson," he tilts his head toward Neo, leaning in. "Why place faith in an old woman's fortune telling?"

Neo's finger curls around the trigger. He glares, realising that the standard issue shades are actually grafted into the skin of the Agent's face.

"That's not my name."

Blood makes a rattling noise in Cunningham's throat.

"It is the name you were given."

The gun sounds again. The Agent speaks no more.

Neo stands up, and pauses there, swaying, the gun hanging limp by his side. Lying sprawled on her back is a little girl, with dark hair and staring brown eyes. If not for the smatter of freckles across her nose, and the bloodstained velvet dress, she could be an older Bobcat. He takes a few steps backward, feeling blood begin to dry on his hands. White lace and burgundy velvet, polished black shoes, and ribbons. A spreading pool of blood. He wonders numbly what the headlines will read tomorrow.

Silence. Rooftop. Wind.

***


	29. Conflicts

Conflicts.

Neo seems distracted. Since his last run several days ago, he's been acting strangely, falling silent and thinking in the middle of a sentence, pausing and staring without seeing in the middle of an action. Nanu worries, but resists the urge to dip into memory and find out what's wrong. She tries to adopt Achi's attitude, if there's something that Neo wants to talk to her about, he'll say it. And since she's learnt how to keep this 'gift' in check, Nanu intends to stay out of other's heads as much as she can.

But despite his odd behaviour, Neo goes ahead with scouting for a withdrawal point. Nanu is going with him.

"You got a minute?" Nanu looks up from the game she is playing with BC. Wires and tools are scattered across the workbench, BC hides several behind her hands. Nanu looks across to Neo in the doorway, he hovers there uncertain.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to go over tomorrow with you."

BC pauses at that, tilting her head at her father.

"What about tomorrow?"

Neo enters, wandering across the armoury, to the bench he once knew as a hiding place. Bobcat quietly captures his attention, taking hold of his sleeve and threading a length of copper wire through the fraying cuff.

"You know we'll be scouting for a safe place to bring out Wolf."

"Yes sir."

"You don't have to come. I can go alone. Trin can go."

"I'd like to go, sir. I'm not afraid of going in."

"Whether or not you're afraid is not the issue."

BC finishes with one piece of wire and begins to search the bench for a second. She appears not to be listening, but Nanu can see how she's chewing her lip.

"Then what is?"

"It's dangerous. Trinity cleared you for your last run but I think that it would be tempting fate if you go in again when you don't have to. No one but you has been so deeply read by the AI. They know you, somehow. Somehow you're important to them."

"Why would I be important?"

"It's likely that when we were separated after your meeting with the Oracle, they were splitting us up so that you and I could be dealt with individually."

Nanu resists the urge to wrinkle her nose. "I very much doubt they perceive me as a threat Neo. I'm just a kid."

"Nanu," he chided. "You know as well as anyone that that's naïve. The AI are nothing but logic, there's always a reason for what they do."

She looks away, finding a curl of wire for BC. As she hands it to the girl, she looks up at her, and a thought echoes clearly.

_tell__ him_

Tell him? But how can she explain the whole story to Neo? He barely believes in his own history, let alone hers.

"I think I should go in with you sir. As you said, there are things I can do that you can't. You might need me."

He has to smile at that, for all that the motion is heartbreakingly sad.

"If you say so Nanu."

***

As she sits back in her chair, Gavin buckles her in, feet and waist. Her hands curl tenderly around the grips, his are almost shaking.

"Relax," she whispers.

He lays a hand on her shoulder, she can feel him shivering.

"You promised me," he reminds her. Nanu smiles reassuringly as the jack slides into her.

_. . . static . . ._

"Will you be okay?" Neo asks her. "It's not too late – "

"I'll be fine Neo," she cuts him off, taking a belt with throwing knives from the weapons rack. "The AI have already played their trump card. There's nothing they can do to me now."

He is puzzled at that. Only BC knows what happened with Raven, and she has not the words to tell.

After a pause, Neo begins to buckle on his weapons. Nanu turns away, slinging the belt around her waist. The knives are a comfortable weight.

**Gavin**

She lies there, still. She looks peaceful.

He does not.

He looks past Tank to where Nanu is reclining in chair 7, as if there is no danger for her life.

Gavin clenches his teeth and begins to descend the ladder.

**Nanu**

In the Matrix, it is nearing summer, but the day is unusually cool. Neo has adopted his disguise of long hair and stubble, and is dressed in rumpled grey, slightly less distinctive than his black coat.

They walk through the backstreets of the city's emptiest quarter – an area that was once industrial and has long since been abandoned. Empty housing commissions lean against gutted warehouses, all of which would be converted to trendy apartments and restaurants if not for the twenty year time loop. Because of that, this place will remain forever unchanged, desolate and lonely until its end.

 "So what exactly are we looking for?"

"Empty, isolated, unused, and intimidating in the dark."

She laughs.

"I'm serious," Neo protests. "It's all part of the alluring atmosphere. We can't just drop by his house and offer him the choice."

"So there's a valid reason for leading the poor kid in circles?"

"Of course," he shakes his head as if amazed she hadn't realised. "When all a target gets is cryptic half answers and mysterious glimpses of those from another world, they're far more likely to pursue answers. So the withdrawal point has to fit into that."

**Pirate**

The hawk is in the galley, slumped over the table with his head on his arms. Pirate hesitates in the doorway, not really wanting to intrude.

That Gavin does not like him is obvious. The reason is something Pirate isn't so certain of.

But it certainly can't hurt to be nice.

"You okay?" he asks aloud.

Gavin jumps, glaring.

"Don't do that," his eyes are wet.

"What's the matter?"

"Don't play dumb, surprisingly it doesn't suit you. And don't pretend to be friendly either." He slides off the bench, wiping shortly at his eyes.

"What is your problem?" he begins to get annoyed. "What have I ever done to you?"

"What is there between you and Nanu?"

Pirate stops short at that. Then he laughs, "Is that it? I thought you might have had a decent reason, but all you've got is jealousy!"

**Gavin**

"Answer the question, Pirate."

The new crewmember just smiles. A gloating smile.

"You wouldn't understand."

Gavin doesn't usually see violence as a way of solving a dispute. But there's nothing he'd rather do tight now that smash in Pirate's smirking face.

**Nanu**

Every building they find has some flaw, either too close to used buildings, too close to a main street, has squatters, has been used by another crew recently or has too many holes in the roof.

Eventually they reach an old hotel – the Lafayette.

"This is where we met Biosa?"

"Yes," Neo looks up, scanning the building. "But it's empty now."

"Is it okay?" Nanu fidgets. She feels they've been in the Matrix too long.

"It should be. It hasn't been a withdrawal point in years . . . " he trails off.

Nanu doesn't even have to listen. "This is where you came out, right?"

He nods, facing up to the dark building.

"Do you want to go in?"

Another nod. He doesn't speak.

**Trinity**

She glances up with a start as Achi bursts into her cabin.

"Capt'n, Trinity, you'd better come."

"Is it – " _Neo?_

"No, it's the boys."

**Gavin**

Pirate fights dirty. Gavin has the feeling the other boy has had a lot more practice at this.

They wrestle on the ground, bumping into the table, the bench, the wall. Metal booms, and dimly Gavin realises that someone will hear them.

Getting the upper hand, he holds Pirate by the collar and raises his other fist. Blood smears across knuckles as he connects with a nose and a lip, before he is shoved off. Gavin rolls to his feet, shaking hair out his eyes.

Pirate is shorter than him, but he has the stamina of a real athlete, and years of experience behind him.

A sharp hit to the jaw sends Gavin reeling, catching the table to hold himself up. As Pirate closes in, Gavin lets his head loll and his body sag.

The other is fooled. When he hesitates, Gavin moves, slamming a fist up under the guy's ribs. They grapple, each trying not to give way.

A hand grabs at Gavin's hair, pulling back. Pirate loosens his grip, and Gavin cringes at a voice;

"I don't believe you two."

Trinity.

"Captain – "

"I don't want to hear it."

"But – "

"I don't care. Pirate, get to your cabin now. I'll deal with you later." He obeys in silence.

Gavin stays put, unmoving even when Achi lets go of his hair. Trinity looks at him, her gaze like stone. She points to the bench.

"Sit."

He does so.

"Achi, go and tell Tank what happened. Check that BC is still in my cabin."

The mechanic nods, then leaves.

Trinity leans against the counter, still looking steadily at him.

"This is the last thing we needed Gavin."

He glares at the table top, trying not to listen, trying not to feel sorry.

"Why?"

He glances up.

"Why Gavin? What happened?"

He doesn't answer. He can't put this in words. He misses Nanu's way of just knowing, without speaking. He wants her back with him. He wants Nanu safe, that's all.

Trinity sighs. "You're on kitchen duty for the next fourteen days. And I advise you to either apologise to Pirate or keep the hell away from him. Fighting within a crew is unacceptable, and if you do it again, you're both going straight back to Zion, I don't care who's fault it is. Understand?"

He nods, sullen.

"Go to your cabin and cool off. I won't tell this to Nanu."

"Thankyou captain."

"Shut up."

**Neo**

They walk up the stairs, Neo leading. He can remember the first time he came here, when Trin lead him over the black and white tiles. He had kept his eyes carefully on her boot heels.

It had been on the first floor landing that he'd seen the cat. That day they'd entered on the tenth floor.

He pauses, turning his head slowly to look down the corridor heading off to his left. They're on the tenth floor now.

**Nanu**

Neo stops ahead of her. A hesitation, then he walks purposefully off down the dark hallway. She follows.

The room he enters is small, and empty but for an armchair and a coffee table. The window is bricked up, and the curtains are torn, lying tangled on the ground. Bloodstains sprawl across the carpet.

Neo's hands are clenched. Slowly Nanu takes his left fist and uncurls it, winding her fingers with his. He doesn't notice her at all.

Somebody died in this room. And Neo believes it is his fault.

_. . . I should've known . . . I should've . . . should've . . ._

Mouse died here. Defiant to the last, he went down still firing even as his body convulsed and blood leaked from his mouth.

_How do you know all this?_

_All I know is that I know._

The room teems with memories that are almost alive. She grips Neo's hand to keep from fading into the riot of thought and harp stringing echoes. It is so, so dangerous here.

Listening, she can almost hear _a mind, the residue of a soul; a boy, a fold-out poster and a woman in a red dress. A black t-shirt with a design that calls to mind thoughts of bones, and a battle cry so strong as he fell, tangled in the ripped curtains and brick dust and memories._

"Neo, can we go now?"

He blinks, looks down at her. "Hm?"

"Can we get out now Neo?"

**Tank**

"Did you hear the noise before?"

"I thought we had a squiddy in the plumbing, of course I heard it. They probably heard the banging in Zion. What was it?"

"Pirate and Gavin, fighting."

"Over what?"

She shrugs.

"How's Trinity?"

"Not happy."

"Knowing your gift for understatement I'll take that to mean 'mad as a cut snake'. What was the fight about?"

"If they want to explain then – "

"Achi, could you at least pretend to have an opinion on the subject?"

She smiles, "You're funny when you're mad Tank."

"That's not the subject I was referring to."

"I know."

He rolls his eyes, exasperated. "Are you always like this?"

"I've been on board three years, you should know by now."

Her smile is uncharacteristically coy, but it's gone before her can be sure he saw it at all. He looks back to his screens. Before long, Achi leaves.

Work, get back to work. He brings up readout of the ship's radar, looking for a new parking spot. They've been sitting in one place for too long.

Sometimes Tank wonders if he might have been too.

He'd been drafted as a member of the Neb's crew at age nine. After the ship had been so badly mutilated, he'd helped rebuild her and had remained her operator. He'd only ever had two captains, Morpheus, and Trinity.

And that's a good thing. His crew is his family. Achi's relatives are the closest he has to blood kin, even though they're several times removed and mainly connected to him through several marriages. His crew is more of a family to him than anyone back in Zion, bossy older sisters and bratty little brothers all.

Except for Pirate. Pirate is someone he has yet to learn to understand.

The headset rings – 

"Operator?"

_– We need an exit –_

"Sure thing princess."

_– Call me that again and I deck you, Wizard –_

"Wells and Lake."

_– See you in five –_

***


	30. Regrets

Regrets.

**Neo**

Two sporks become two people, a bowl becomes their ship. Small hands play across the metal table top, BC's impromptu toys make little tapping sounds.

She moves, reaches across the table for another spork. Neo stretches his arm around and retrieves it for her.

Brown eyes look up, then she looks back to the utensil in his open palm. She curls his fingers over it.

"What is it?" He asks her, one arm around her in his lap.

"Person."

"A Jack?" a lesson in real world terminology.

"Copper."

"Coppertop."

"Yes."

"Where are they?"

She frowns delicately, searching for the correct word. "Cage."

"A cage?"

BC pulls his fingers tighter around the spork. He can feel every imperfection in the cool metal.

"Trapped in the cage," she elaborates in the curious Zion inflection that has no accent.

"What cage?" he asks, more than a little afraid of the answer.

She closes her eyes for a second, breathing in slowly. "The Matrix."

His fingers loosen. "Can I let the person go?"

"Yes. Free." The coppertop is withdrawn from their cage, and placed in the care of the crew on the Tin Bowl. All three lie down, apparently to sleep.

Neo sits still, hugging his daughter against him as she lays her head against his chest.

Worry lines are beginning to show in his face.

Cages. How can he save so many people when he can't find the lock on the door, let alone the key?

Everything has been piling up lately, the incident with Nanu, Cunningham, Wolf, Pirate and Gavin fighting, the Lafayette . . .

Why had he gone there? It's one of many questions, questions that flit around his mind like moths beating themselves to death inside a jar. What had happened to Nanu? Why had Cunningham stayed to talk, and why had Neo listened? What had possessed him to accept another fumbling teenager on board, when there were others more useful than Wolf? Why were Pirate and Gavin at each other's throats? Why had he taken Pirate on board at all? What were the subtitles that hummed at the edge of hearing whenever Pirate and Nanu were in the room together? Was that bizarre connection the reason Gavin hated Pirate so much? Could something have happened to Nanu while she was zoned out that changed the way things were among them all?

BC wriggles, Neo blinks and looks down at her. Eyes that mirror his stare back at him. She sees beyond him, it seems, reads what lies beneath his shields. She has the same air about her that Nanu carries, that of knowing more than she should, and understanding far beyond her boundaries.

She cuddles closer to him, as if sensing his half-fear of her. He rocks her slightly, more to comfort himself than his child.

"Daddy."

"Hmm?"

A small cool hand reaches up to touch his cheek, but stops at his neck, over the pulse below his jaw. She leans into him, and he feels his heartbeat begin to slow.

"BC – "

"Close your eyes. See."

_. . . the world fades from him, steel dissolving into blue sky sunshine and cloud . . ._

She shows him.

**Nanu**

As Nanu re-screws a steel panel into the wall, her breath catches. Achi touches her arm,

"What is it?"

Nanu's eyes clear, "Nothing."

Achi doesn't push the question.

Nanu steadies the screwdriver.

_. . . Neo . . ._

She blinks, trying to focus.

_. . . Raven . . ._

The tool slips, scoring a long scratch in the wall.

_. . . I'm not Juno . . ._

The edge of the 'driver nears her hand.

_. . . Let go . . ._

It cuts, slashing across her knuckles. She's pressing _so_ hard, but doesn't notice.

_. . . I'll hold you . . ._

_. . . Let go of me! . . ._

_. . . No! . . ._

Blood spills.

"Nanu, what is it?"

_. . . come back . . ._

"Wrap this around your hand, it's alright."

_. . . You promised me . . ._

A voice. Pirate.

"Where did you come from?"

"It's not a very big ship," he takes her hand, leading her down the hall.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm the medic numbskull, what do you think I'm doing?"

"But Achi – "

"Can finish fixing that wall on her own. She's not as clumsy as you."

"I'm not clumsy," she's aware that her words are slurring.

He laughs, pulling her through the infirmary doorway. "Why else would you almost cut off your hand?"

Dazed, she looks down at her left hand, at the blood seeping through the cloth.

"I did what?"

Hands around her waist heft her up onto one of the bunk beds. He grins at her again, "Just go back to sleep, silly goose."

She sits there, trying to collect her wits. She'd been fine five minutes ago, what had happened to her? There'd been voices, words, memories teeming through her head. Neo, and Raven.

And BC.

"Where's Bobcat?" she asks.

"Dunno, why?" Pirate unties the rag, then dabs across the cut with cotton wool and something that stings.

"No reason." With the onset of pain her mind begins to clear. BC must have been thinking about what had happened the other day. But the thoughts had the odd lilt that she associated with Neo. It makes no sense.

Pirate smooths a strip of sterile bandage over her cut. The corner of the screwdriver must have dug deeper than she'd thought, for him to take this sort of care. Another bandage goes over the first.

She studies him, listening. He's verging on hyper sensitive, and she can tell that he's holding back, keeping from listening to _her_. To him her hands feel warm as he wraps the bandage around her knuckles, and smooth.

Nanu tries not to fidget. She knows full well what Pirate is thinking, and she also knows she'll have to put some stop to it. They're crewmates, they have to face each other every day, and they can't afford to get too awkward over this.

And of course, she's with somebody else.

"Pirate," she keeps her voice steady.

"Mm?" he only meets her eyes briefly, turning his back and going to put away the antiseptic liquid.

"We're friends right?"

His shoulders tense. She sees the tattoos ripple as he forces muscles to relax. "Sure we're friends."

_That's not enough for you, is it? It won't ever be._

She bows her head. A heaviness settles in the back of her throat, like a swallow of something cold and wet and tasting stale.

_I'm so sorry Pirate._

"Thanks for patching up my hand," she says aloud, sliding off the bunk. He nods, not looking at her.

Nanu fights an urge to reach out her hand and trace the tattoos along the lines of his neck. But she doesn't. He deserves so much better than . . . .this. 

***


	31. Harp Strings

Harp Strings.

**Trinity**

All hands on deck. Tank and Achi are setting them up, checking buckles and adjusting chairs. She looks over at Neo, he's watching Nanu with an odd expression. She knows that look in his eyes, it's like in the Matrix, when he dips out of focus and scans through the world no one else can see, his mind analytical, and grappling with understanding. She wonders why he's studying Nanu like that.

Tank comes up, touching Neo's shoulder. With a blink, he refocuses.

"The infirmary ready?"

"Everything is."

Trinity looks to Nanu. Once again, Gavin is staying behind, and he is by her side. She squeezes his hand and whispers something. Without the slightest hesitation, he kisses a blessing on her forehead and slides the jack into her head. As her eyes close he replaces her limp hand on the grip, then retreats to the bridge.

She puts her head back as Tank approaches, and as the static floods her senses Trinity wonders if Neo can read her apprehension in the construct.

**Pirate**

Night. City lights makes the main streets glow but the alleys are full of shadows.

Some of which are alive.

They walk quickly and quietly, Nanu and Trinity and Pirate. Neo is waiting back at the Lafayette.

They have been lucky with this target. Wolf has been nothing but eager, and yet no Agents have ever been seen tracking him. Pirate can't help but think that the AI have been biding their time, waiting for the greater prize.

**Nanu**

It smells like rain. The air is heavy with the waiting for thunder.

Emerging into the light of the main street, Nanu scans the crowds. Music thuds from night clubs, cars growl and the people buzz.

A crack, electricity arcs through the sky. It is as if the AI realise what they will soon lose, and they can do nothing but flail in code to protest.

Trinity and Pirate wait back in the alley while she walks into the crowd. Where is he?

She scans, listening and wanting him to come to her.

Wolf.

"Lurker?" pushing himself away from the wall outside an adult book shop, the boy takes a step forward.

"Hey there, Wolf."

He looks her over, taking in her stance. All fawn, grey and black, she's clad to blend in with concrete and stone. People walk past, swerving around them, some glancing at her shaded eyes before looking quickly away.

Nanu smiles, letting her hands curl as the world thrums around her. This is power.

"Follow me."

And he does, without hesitation or question.

Rain begins to fall.

***

The two of them pause outside the double doors. Wolf takes a deep breath. He's only just as tall as Nanu.

"You got any famous last words?" she asks.

"No."

"Just as well."

She opens the door for him.

Lighting crashes through the dim room as Neo turns from the window. Wolf grinds to a halt, eyes widening behind his thick glasses.

Nanu places a reassuring hand on his shoulder for a moment, before retreating from the room.

***

Waiting is never easy. She's is resisting the urge to pace.

"Nanu," Trinity keeps her voice low. "Quit fidgeting."

"There's nothing more you can do – " she cuts Pirate off with a sharp gesture.

"It's not just Wolf. Everything in this bloody place is off centre."

Trinity and Pirate look equally blank.

"It just doesn't feel exactly right," she elaborates.

"Is there anything exactly wrong?" Trinity gets up from behind her monitor.

"I don't know," Nanu finally gives in to the pacing, pulling at the hems of her sleeves absently. "There's something just out of reach I'm missing. It's not serious but it's _wrong_."

"This won't take long," Trinity soothes, flicking on equipment. "We're leaving as soon as he's out."

The door opens, and Neo sweeps through. Wolf almost sneaks after him in the shadow of his coat.

"Are we online Pirate?" Neo asks as he silently hands him a cell phone.

"We're all set."

The boy's eyes are darting everywhere at once, trying to take all this in. Nanu takes a deep breath, then walks to his side.

"Come take a seat."

"What is all this?" he asks, hands trembling a little as she helps him into the chair.

"You're about to wake up."

"Wake up?"

"It's alright. You'll be okay."

It's all the same; the chair, the trodes, the gadgets, the dials, all the paraphernalia which Nanu now understands, albeit in a rather sketchy way. The phone dials the powerplant, establishing a link to the stream of information being fed to the coppertops. Pirate, at his computer, is searching for the signature code of the red pill Wolf took. When he finds it, he will also find the carrier signal between Wolf and the Matrix source. Then the signal can be broken.

Wolf, in his butchered dentist's chair, is pale.

Back on the ship, Tank will be looking for Wolf's location in the 'plant. The pill will be disrupting his carrier signal, and so will be distorting his connection to the Matrix. Soon his pod, his physical connection to the 'plant, will detect the change, and will send for a drone to remove the faulty battery.

So Tank has to get them out and get to Wolf before he drowns.

A gasp makes her turn around. The boy is staring at the carpet near his feet. She frowns as Neo looks over to her.

"The signal distortion is making him hallucinate."

She nods in understanding, glancing at Trinity's screen where the signals are beginning to waver. As they suddenly swerve sharply away from the norm, Pirate swears in triumph.

"Gotcha!"

Neo hits the speed dial on the cell, "Tank, set up the exit now."

Wolf is struggling, face contorted as he strains against bonds that aren't there. Nanu dares to listen

_COLD!_

and has to catch at the table for balance. Wolf is beginning to feel signals from his body as the information feed from the Matrix falters.

Trinity hits at keys, her eyes glued to her screen. With a final punch of 'return', she exhales. Nanu looks across the room. Wolf is gone.

Behind the door Neo and Wolf entered through, a phone begins to call for their attention. Neo waves them over to it. "Come on, let's get the hell out of there."

One by one, their illusions dissolve. Pirate, Trinity, then it is Nanu's turn.

She lifts the receiver to her ear, waiting for the connection from her carrier signal to the ship's core to resolve itself. But then, as lies begin to be replaced by truths, she sees something.

A world of lost souls. Like an alternate universe that was spawned by the choices made in this one. Harp strings and feathers and burgundy, a place beyond.

In a bewildering flash of realisation and memory, she sees three people stationed around the room. A boy in a suit lounges against the wall near her, a woman all in white stands at the mantelpiece, and a man with long curly hair is by the bricked up window.

"Mouse," Nanu whispers. The boy is right beside her, he looks up with a start.

"Who are you?"

The woman turns, "Another ghost then."

_. . . static . . ._

She opens her eyes and they're gone.

"Come on," Achi helps her up. The ship is rumbling, rocking from one side to another as they race for the 'plant. And Wolf.

Nanu feels her stomach lurch. All the horrible wrongness of the evening runs together in a tangled mess, and it constricts her throat. She doesn't throw up, but she does collapse.

***

Pirate and Gavin stand either side of the boy, working quietly. The air is tense, but they both pretend it isn't, passing tools and needles from one to the other like they're the best of friends. There is work to be done, and they cannot afford to have enmity getting in the way.

Nanu hovers in the doorway, fighting a throbbing headache. Metal stings cool under her hands, and she leans her cheek against the steel. She tries to focus on the body within the incubator walls.

Pirate looks up and notices her. After a second, Gavin turns around and smiles softly. But she can tell that the motion is painful for him.

"Can I see Wolf?"

They take a few steps away from the table. She stands straight, takes a breath, then crosses the room.

Wolf is small and frail, bones jutting at sharp angles under his skin. He was never very strong in the Matrix, but at least there had been his hair, soft and faintly curling. Now he's so strangely pale and thin, he hardly seems human.

She places a hand on the edge of the incubator, and listens.

_there__ is a room, scruffy and safe, a little dusty but so undeniably home. The tumble of clothes across the floor, the books piled up on his shelf, all these things are unnoticed by Wolf, for they are permanent fixtures in his life, as regular as the sun's rising . . ._

Nanu takes a step back as an onslaught of sorrow and loss swamp over her. A loss of innocence. This child has been torn unknowingly from all that he ever knew, and he was given no warning, no warning.

_A brush of contact –_

"He'll be okay," Pirate knows what she's crying for. "It was his decision in the end."

She breathes in almost desperately. The tang of sterility slices through the haze, and she forces a smile. "I know."

Left out, Gavin turns away from them, rummaging for something in the cupboard. She wants to say something to him, for him, but Tank knocks on the door and scatters her thoughts again.

"Neo wants to talk to you."

***

Neo is on the bridge, sitting in the right hand seat. BC is cuddled into his lap, she seems to follow him everywhere.

Nanu takes the left hand chair, trying not to give in and cradle her aching head in her hands. "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes." He seems distracted, his gaze fixed beyond the window rather than at her. BC turns her head.

_. . . Raven . . ._

Nanu grips the arm rests. The little girl reads her blatant confusion, and answers in a blurred montage.

_. . . feathers, cloud, blue sky sunshine harp strings and velvet . . ._

"This is about the other day isn't it?" Nanu asks Neo aloud. "When the squiddies came."

He takes a deep breath, resolving to understand her.

"What happened to you up there?"

"I flew. And I saw Raven, the first one. He was Juno's father, and she was Morph's captain. Juno's who I used to be."

She sees the instinctive scepticism at unproven history flare in his eyes, but presses on as she sees it fade.

"When I saw Raven, it was a memory. Like when that crowd came in the street, Raven was something in my mind the AI used against me. I got dizzy, and everything he kept telling me made me want to just give in and sleep. Become assimilated."

His mouth twists, "Resistance is futile."

She smiles back, just as grim. BC stares solemnly out the window.

"Before I came back, I saw something. Like a world apart from the Matrix, and apart from the real. It's like, choices that weren't made, and every possibility made from the AI hacking their own system. When they change something, we see déjà vu, but this world is like a permanent glitch."

"A world apart?" he frowns.

"A Ghost world. There are people there."

A long silence. Neo breathes slowly, trying to move his next question beyond his mouth.

"Who?"

"Mouse." Other names occur to her, "Apoc and Switch."

He looks down and away. BC leans closer against him, a mortal guardian angel. At length Neo raises his eyes again.

"Could you reach this world again?"

"I think so. When we were in the Lafayette, scouting for a withdrawal point, I got a glimpse of it. That might be where the barrier is weakest."

"Alright then. Tomorrow we'll go in, and see if you can find it."

Her brow furrows, "Why?"

"Like I said the other day, you are important to the AI. It's very possible that they feared you would discover a breach like this."

She begins to shake her head but he cuts her off.

"Like it or not Nanu, you _are more powerful than you consider yourself to be. Tomorrow you and I go in, and you'll find this world again. This might just win us the war."_

BC closes her eyes.

***


	32. Blood and Burgundy

Blood and Burgundy.

**Nanu**

Neo had been hoping to sneak into the Matrix quietly, but even the unconscious Wolf could have told him that this wasn't going to happen. Trinity had heard of the run, and from then on it may as well have been written that she was going too. Nanu didn't need any gift to read between the lines of the glares passed between her seniors.

Sometimes she wishes that Neo would understand that Trinity does not need protecting, and she will refuse point blank to be left safely behind from any important mission.

And this is a _very important mission._

As the three of them prepare to jack-in, Nanu looks for Gavin. He's not on the deck. A second of _out-of-focus-ness and she knows he's below decks with Wolf. She's not sure if she'd rather have him with her or not. She knows how much it scares him when she goes in, there's the constant possibility that she'll never come back._

But still, Nanu often wishes that he'd just trust her. He should know that if it's at all possible, she will come back to him. And if she doesn't, well . . . this is a war.

***

The three of them stand motionless as the ripples of their entrance slow and slowly stop.

Nanu blinks slowly, feeling this world as she never has before. Somehow it's all so much stronger, more powerful. The reflected light from Neo's shades is painful, the sound of the phone, when it rings, startles her into turning to face it. And that small movement is monumental. Of a sudden she is swamped with questions of decisions not made – if she hadn't moved just now, might the future be different?

"We're in fine Tank. We don't need anything else."

She blinks. Focus. Remember that this isn't real. Remember the here and now, what _is, not what may be._

"Are you alright" Trinity almost has to take the girl's hand to make her listen.

" . . . yes. I'm fine now."

They've come into the room Neo had visited before. The torn curtains are undisturbed, and distant sounds of the world outside are muffled through the bricked up window.

It's a world unto itself this room. It's a gateway.

"Nanu?"

"Ghosts," Nanu has to sit down. She folds to her knees and runs her fingers through the bloodstained carpet. "All ghosts." Her voice fades to a whisper.

_. . . Mouse . . ._

"Nanu?" A hand on her shoulder, Trinity beside her. She clutches the burning warm skin and clenches the dusty carpet at once. Two places at once.

Her eyes are shut. Light floods into her mind.

White. The construct?

No. It coalesces into a figure, a woman in white vinyl.

"You're back. Here, get up."

Pale hands take her arms and help her to her feet.

"Switch."

"What's your name kid?" another voice asks. Apoc. Short for apocalypse. The apocalypse virus.

_"Nanu?"___

Distantly Neo places his hand on her other shoulder. Her head reels with the connections to the three souls, but somehow of the three Trinity is constant, her skin reassuringly warm as Nanu crouches on the floor somewhere in an abandoned hotel room. She is something simple, honest and true, anchored among these unfettered souls, and a solid rock to grip in the riptide.

"Switch," the girl inhales slowly. "I'm Nanu."

"What are you doing here?"

_"Are you alright?"_

In this world with no place, Nanu reaches up to where Neo's hand should be, and takes it. With a ripple and a bending of air, he enters the nowhere beside her.

Apoc swears loudly in what might be Spanish. "Neo?"

Mouse takes a nervous step forward. "Don't tell me you're dead?"

"I don't think I am."

Switch frowns, "Then what are you doing here?"

Nanu moves away from them slowly, leaning against the wall.

**Trinity**

She kneels on the carpet beside Nanu, her left hand held in a cold, unbreakable grip. Carefully Trinity draws out a gun with the other, clicking off the safety and settling herself to be ready to fire at the door. Neo's gone, and Nanu might as well be.

She breathes carefully and keeps her hands steady. Nanu still sits motionless, her face turned away.

Trinity waits. It's all there is to do.

**Neo**

"What is this place?" He asks, casting bewildered eyes around him.

"We don't know," Apoc shrugs. "Switch and I don't remember anything past the TV repair shop, and the last Mouse knew was this room."

"That was four years ago," Neo bows his head, removing his shades.

"What'd we miss?" Mouse tries a grin.

"What happened to Morpheus?" Switch is more serious.

"Tank killed Cypher before he could get me, so Trinity and I got Morpheus out."

"The _AI took him. How did you get past Agents?"_

Neo sees Nanu slide quietly down the wall, curling into a ball. He crosses to her side, "Are you alright?"

"We'll take it from here," Switch cuts him off. Even Neo catches the _'coppertop' inflection behind her words. _

Nanu, huddled on the floor, manages a grim laugh. "You're talking to the _One Switch."_

"What?"

Apoc frowns, turning to look closely at the once-rookie in the long black coat. "For sure?"

Neo brushes it off, "Yeah, I am. But Nanu, are you alright?"

He helps her up again, and she leans heavily against the mantelpiece, lifting her head with visible effort. "I don't know. This place makes me dizzy."

"Why dizzy?" he presses.

"It's not fixed. This isn't a real _place_, not like the Matrix."

"_Not like the Matrix?" he repeats, eyes widening._

"Check the code Neo. We're somewhere _else_ entirely."

He looks, and looks again. There are no straight lines here, it's a void of abstracts and confusion, links and ties and lines leading nowhere, the green bled through with bruised blue.

"What in hell?"

"See it? That's what's throwing me off up here," she taps a finger to her temple, and the motion turns into an expression of pain.

"Neo," Switch's voice is sharp with annoyance and fear. "What is going on?"

"We came here from the Lafayette, Nanu has the gift, and yes I'm the One. Trinity is still in the Matrix where we left her, and beyond that I have no idea what this is."

"Ghost world. This is a ghost world." The cold declaration is met with silence. Nanu carefully straightens. "This is a dead place. But it leads somewhere."

"Where?" he barely dares to whisper.

"Can't you see it?" she turns her face to him. Her eyes are unfocused and her skin has gone very pale. "It's there. The door is open, all you have to do is walk through it."

"How?"

"There," with one hand she describes a shape, and he sees the echoes the motion leaves in code. There is a sound like harp strings, rippling and fluid. A shape is there, gleaming white through the blue and green.

"Neo?"

But all he can see is the white beyond the black. Blind to the dead hotel room and the ghosts that cry within it, he walks through the door.

***

Whirling colour, colour so bright and fast it has a sound. Green and red and blue

_(red or blue?)_

and violet and velvet and leather and lace and a form taking shape in the midst of the storm.

Something like a human. Something like a woman.

Someone like himself but drastically not.

A voice made of colour – dark dark burgundy in thin lines of ink, a voice of an undefinable note.

_"I know who you are," she seems transfixed._

"Who are _you?"_

The voice is pure. When she smiles she sings. _"What I am matters nothing beyond that I know exactly what you want."_

He tries to focus on her. A feline form, eyes like something forever untamed and dark hair tumbling down her back. Without even moving she seems to be dancing, shadow in the light about them both.

"What do I want?"

_"You want to destroy everything that I am."_

"Why would I do that?"

_"You have been fighting me as long as your soul has existed."_

He tries to move closer to her. She radiates a feeling like flying.

"Who _are you?"_

_"You know me."_

Closer. Skin that glows with an abundance, or an absence of racing code. He dares to lift a hand to her cheek, she burns him. She looks at him solemnly with answers in her eyes.

_"I am your Fate."_

***


	33. Battle Stations

Battle Stations.

**Trinity**

She steadies her gun, one hand still clutched in both of Nanu's. In the extreme quiet, she can hear rats scuttling in the walls, their claws scrabbling against the pipes.

She'd once escaped this building in much the same way.

Glancing away from the open door, she studies Nanu's down-turned face. He skin is paler than usual, translucent to the point where the veins show in her eyelids.

A sound, like ripples in glass. Neo is suddenly there, kneeling on the bloodstained carpet on the other side of the girl.

"Are we done now?" Trinity asks, deliberately calm. Neo doesn't reply, he only places a hand on Nanu's shoulder as if waking her up.

Brown eyes open slowly, pupils shrinking at the flooding light.

"We can go," Nanu whispers. "Soon is best."

Neo stays where he is beside her, his head down. Trinity stands carefully, pulling out her mobile to ring home for an exit.

**Nanu**

Gavin is waiting by her chair when she awakes, armed with a blanket and a fearsome expression. The moment she's unplugged, he's helping Nanu sit up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" she manages to ask.

"It happened again. You zoned out, and this time so did Neo."

"I know. We found a new place."

"You what?"

Neo stands up carefully from his chair.

"Tank, you and Achi find a safe place to power down. Then get to the galley. This is for the whole crew to hear."

"What about Wolf?" Trinity murmurs.

"Let him sleep."

***

Somehow the table seems far more crowded than the first time Nanu had sat here. Neo stands at one end with Trinity seated beside him, Tank, Pirate and Achi are on one side, she and Gavin are on the other. There is actually one less member than when Tod and Key had been on crew, but all the same the galley walls almost press in on Nanu. She is hunched and shivering despite the blanket around her shoulders. She thought she'd become accustomed to the cold.

"The Matrix is not as we first thought," Neo begins. "For so many years it has been nothing more than a system. But in recent weeks it has almost become sentient. Why this is I don't know. Perhaps it's evolving, despite all its limitations of time loops.

"But today Nanu opened the door to an entirely new dimension. Tank, you remember Switch, Apoc and Mouse."

The operator swallows, his fists clenching on the table top. "Of course."

Neo bows his own head, leaning on the table, hesitating as if searching for the right words.

Nanu supplies them for him. "There is a world that is made of the possibilities the AI create. Every change made to the Matrix has repercussions of far greater magnitude than déjà vu. We found a world apart, made from these infinite possible outcomes, and it echoes with changes not made." She pauses, clutching the coarse blanket tighter around her shoulders. "And there are people there. People who have died as a result of options not taken. Apoc, Switch and Mouse. They're still in the Lafayette."

"That world is a gateway," Neo picks up the thread before anyone can ask questions. "There is a place beyond it. I believe it leads, somehow, back to the machine mainframe."

"The mainframe?" Pirate raises his eyebrows, sceptical. "You can reach the mainframe from an old hotel in the Matrix city, without any kind of computer connection or hacking involved at all?"

"It is a kind of hacking," Nanu interrupts. "But the code in the Ghost world isn't anything like the Matrix. It's not even green."

"A computer isn't what's needed to get through that world," Neo says, meeting Pirate's eyes with visible effort. "It's the Gift."

Gavin keeps his arm steady around Nanu's shoulders, a silent support. Tank stares at Neo as if he doesn't recognise him, and Pirate doesn't seem to want to look at anyone.

"If you can reach the mainframe," Trinity begins to ask softly, "could you somehow . . . "

Neo just shakes his head, and she falls silent. Nanu catches the undercurrent distinctly. The two of them will discuss the full implications later, and won't speak in public until there is an actual plan.

"While we have completed the recent objective of acquiring a new recruit," he says to them all, "we will not be returning to Zion in the near future. Wolf will begin training on board as usual. No other plans have been formulated as yet."

"Gavin and Pirate," Trinity stands from the table. "You two can get back to work."

They move slowly from the kitchen, as if suspicious that they will be missing out on something. And not without reason.

"Tank," Neo asks as he sits down, "what did you see when we were in there?"

"Like when Nanu zoned out that time, you both disappeared like you'd never been in the room."

"But Nanu stayed in the Lafayette," Trin sits beside the girl, offering help to wrap the blanket closer. By now, Nanu is shivering.

"I wasn't all there. I had to stay in both places at once, to be a bridge for Neo to get back."

Neo picks quietly at threads unravelling from the cuffs of his shirt. Achi speaks up. "What did you see in that place? It's not just the gateway to the mainframe that's worried you."

He looks up, startled that anyone has noticed a difference in him. But before opening his mouth, he looks to Nanu.

_. . . light. rushing abstracts and forms . . . burgundy black and red . . . a figure. someone like himself but drastically not . . ._

"Fate," she whispers, her head spinning with the suddenness of it all. Somehow these three souls are tangled in this mess, Trinity/Nuala, Neo/Raven and Nanu/Juno. Somehow the paths they've all led end in the realm beyond the door.

"Fate," he nods, turning his face away. Tank frowns, looking as if to speak, but falls silent. There isn't really anything he can ask.

It is Achi who sends Tank up to the bridge, who lifts Nanu from the chair and half carries her to her room. Trinity and Neo walk silently behind the Zion-born, side by side and silent. Even with her eyes closed and her head against Achi's shoulder, Nanu still understands their words without sound. It is unlikely that they will sleep tonight. 

Through closed lids Nanu sees the woman again, cloaked in shadow and blood. She smiles, curling her lip to reveal teeth, and Nanu somehow accepts that Neo will not return from his next mission alive.

Achi pushes open a cabin door, entering and lowering Nanu's thin form on the bunk. As the darkness closes again, the girl lets the vision slip aside, and sleeps. And forgets.

**Trinity**

"What did you see?"

"I saw where my path ends."

She leans forward, placing a hand under his chin to lift his head. The two of them sit on their bed, crosslegged like children.

"Morpheus used to talk about it . . . " his voice sounds lost.

"I remember. That time with the copter, he said there's a difference between knowing the path, and walking it."

"He said a lot of things," Neo dodges her gaze, looking back down to the cuffs of his sleeves. "And look where his path led him."

"What did you see in there?" she insists on the question, gently.

"Fate. There was light, colour, sound . . . it was a world apart. If anything could be a dream encoded, that place is it. And there was a woman there."

She takes his hands, carefully untangling his fingers from the threads of his sleeves. He clenches her bones together without noticing.

"She told me that I had been fighting her as long as my soul has existed. She told me that I wanted to destroy her. But when I asked her who she was, she only said 'I am your Fate'."

She pauses before answering. "Did you believe her?"

He looks up. "Yes." There is a stark simplicity to him now that Trinity almost does not recognise. If she'd seen his face when he had resolved to save her life at the possible cost of his own, that time with the copter, she might find a parallel with his expression now.

"You said you saw the way to the mainframe – "

"There are answers in her eyes," he cuts her off as if he cannot hear her. "She's the core of everything. She's everything we aren't, but so, so simple. She's what I was born for, what I've lived to find."

"Neo?"

When he looks back to her, his eyes are wide and dark. The irises show as a narrow ring of colour.

"Neo, you're talking in riddles. What is this woman you saw?"

"She is truth. She's the end."

"I don't understand you."

"If I destroy her, we'll win. The war will finally be over."

"But how Neo? How can you even get there again let alone defeat something not human?"

"She's everything but human. It is humanity that will break her."

Trinity shivers at the tone of his voice. It doesn't belong to him. It's somehow older, and unnervingly certain.

"You should sleep now. I'll see you in the morning."

He obeys her silently, uncurling and stretching out on the bunk. She stands, taking a step away from him.

Tonight she'll sleep in the room Wolf is yet to claim. This is not truly Neo. Trinity leaves, closing the door behind her, and repeating the irrational belief that everything will be alright tomorrow morning.

**Nanu**

Small hands wake her, creeping up her shoulder and tugging at the blankets. Nanu rolls over, opening her eyes carefully. Bobcat clambers onto the bed beside her, eyes big and solemn.

"What's the matter Bobby?" Nanu makes room for the little girl, sitting up with her back to the wall.

"Daddy. He's confused."

The understanding in those eyes outstrips the childish lilt of the voice.

"What's he confused about?"

"Fate. The lady he saw."

Burgundy and blood. Nanu remembers what she saw.

"How long have I been asleep for?"

"Half the day. It's almost night time now."

"Have you been here all that time?"

"No." BC shifts closer, cuddling into the curve of Nanu's side. The ship is a lot colder than Zion. Nanu awkwardly strokes the little girl's hair.

She's not sure how to treat her. She has no experience with children as it is, but BC does not have the soul of a child. She neither thinks, speaks nor acts as any normal three-going-on-four-year-old would. That's without taking into account the world she's been born into.

"Don't feel sad for me," Nanu hears a whisper.

"Alright then," Nanu hugs the little girl carefully. "Was there something you wanted to ask?"

"Daddy needs your help."

"What can I do to help him?"

"Remember."

"Remember Juno?"

BC nods, her hair ruffling. Nanu has never felt raven feathers, but she imagines they'd be as soft as the girl's hair.

She tilts her head back against the steel wall, listening to the ship hum around her. What does she know of Juno? The last image that comes to mind is that twilight in September, when she flew with Raven above the city, daring the world to look up and see, and believe they were living a lie.

But how does it relate to the Ghost world? What does it have to do with Fate?

Burgundy and blood. Dark threads and ribbons, like _lines of code, code that drips and runs in rivulets down the stone of a tower. Scent of thunder. Rain that glows green. Texture of a silk lined coat, the feel of hair like feathers. A world apart, years away from her. Curled with her father, crying salt as the clock roars the twelfth stroke. On her knees in the church courtyard, sobbing in the mud as what she holds fades to nothing. A deep breath as a ringing phone wars with a lightening strike, staggering to her feet as she finds herself alone._

_Feathers, black feathers falling around her._

_Inhale a feeling like flying. Code shines through the rain, blinding bright. A sudden knowledge, and inhuman speed as she runs into the church, bursting through the doors and snatching the receiver in the back room where they keep the flowers._

_Feathers._

Nanu opens her eyes, looking down at BC.

"Do you know what I just saw?"

The girl nods mutely.

"How will that help Neo?"

"It will." Such certainty. "I have to go now."

"Alright then."

"Sleep Nanu. You won't dream."

**Neo**

He wakes slowly, gradually becoming aware of a small warmth against his side. BC.

"'Lo rascal," he murmurs from instinct.

"'Lo daddy."

Neo tries to remember how he got here, but can't. There's a fog over his last waking hours, and he cannot get a fix on what happened to him. He shifts, trying to find a more comfortable way to lie. It's dark; the only source of light a thin strip of white along the vent in the door.

White haloed doorways. Burgundy.

Glimpses of what he said to Trinity come through the haze, but they dissolve before he can remember them entirely. He'd been so stunned then, and now his conscious mind cannot recall what the subconscious understood instinctively.

He holds his daughter closer against him, shutting his eyes tight.

"BC?"

"Hmm?" He is thrown for a second by how much she sounds like himself.

"You told me what happened to Nanu before, without words."

"Yes."

Neo lets his head roll to one side, breathing carefully. How can he ask this? There's so much confusion and blur over the past few days, he's not certain if there's anything concrete left in his world.

There was a woman. That he's almost certain of. She spoke to him; he knows that in his blood. What she said is more of the issue. As for who or what she is, that's a mystery he's nowhere near guessing.

"Do you think you could help me, BC?"

She wriggles closer in the way only children can. "About Fate?"

He inhales. He's never totally put his faith in the Oracle. Nanu's skills spook him at the best of times. Yet when his four year old daughter calmly reads his mind, he finds himself not scared at all.

"I don't understand what she wants," he whispers aloud.

"She's what you were made to destroy. You've always been meant to free us. Raven began it, but it was too much for one lifetime. Your fate is to destroy the Matrix, end the war, and bring freedom to our people."

He shudders violently at the memory these words bring, but her small hands only hug him tighter.

"If you destroy your fate, it will be fulfilled."

"How do I do that?" his mouth is very dry.

"She's logic, nothing else. You must defy that if you are to break her."

Neo forces the muscles in his neck to unclench.

"Sleep daddy. Tomorrow will come soon enough, and you'll know what to do in the morning."

"How can you be sure?" he rasps, one hand resting distantly on BC's hair.

"I'm sure. Just sleep now. I'll stay here."

Odd as it seems, Neo finds this profoundly comforting. He turns onto his side, his child under his arm, and manages to fall asleep.

***


	34. Don't Say Goodbye

Don't Say Goodbye.

**Pirate**

They're in the galley again. He glances around the room, noting the grim and nervous expressions of the crew. Nanu huddles at the table, a blanket again around her shoulders. Gavin sits next to her, poised as if ready to catch the girl if she topples backwards.

Neo and Trinity are not sitting down, but are standing by the counter. Neo has his head down, but there's an acceptance to the curve of his shoulders that was not there yesterday. BC is perched on the table, her feet swinging. Her delicate features are pensive, and worried, a reflection of her mother's.

"This isn't the easiest thing to say," Neo begins, his arms folded as he studies the floor. They wait, none of them daring to speak. Pirate tucks his hands in his belt to stop them trembling.

Neo breathes in, looking up. He seems to search the air for the right words, as if trying to read the code beneath the skin of the world. But this is the Real, and there are no easy answers for him here.

"We might be able to bring down the Matrix."

Nanu shivers. Gavin wraps an arm around her shoulders but she barely notices.

"The world Nanu found is a glitch, a hole in the AI's defence. Through it, we can destroy the machine world."

Nobody asks how. And every one of them understands that winning this will somehow cost Neo his life.

Trinity speaks up, tucking her fringe behind her ear. "Nanu will take Neo and I back into the ghost world tomorrow. In the meantime we'll have to call back to Zion and have them send an alert to all ships to stay out of the Matrix. We might actually have to hold off for a few days if anyone has targets they want out before we take the Matrix down."

Pirate has to break the silence, "What will happen to the plant?"

The captain turns to him, her eyes somehow haunted. "We don't know what will happen. We don't even know if this will work. But it's all we know to do."

Ice trickles down his spine at her words. BC wraps her arms around herself, huddling into a smaller shape. The others, Tank, Achi, Gavin and Nanu, all seem to hover motionless, like wax sculptures with lifeless glass eyes.

This is the first real hope for the end of the war. They might just come out of this victorious. So why does he feel like he's just been gutted? Why is there such a cold grip on this room?

He looks over to Nanu. She's deathly pale, and curled into Gavin's side like there's nothing else in the world. Feeling his gaze on her, she blinks and looks back at him.

Wolf eyes. He sees again that flare of recognition, that assertion of the shared gift. And with that, he feels the beginning of a slow burn, a pain wound through his ribs that will make sense soon, but is now nothing more than an unresolved prophecy.

"Achi," Trinity's voice cuts through their collective daze. "Come up onto Deck, there's work to be done."

Pirate shakes his head, shaking off the errant sensation of being on the cusp of understanding.

**Gavin**

Wolf is coming along well. Although he still spends almost all of time sleeping, the muscle regeneration is on schedule. Another two days and he'll be up and about.

Another two days and he'll awake to a ship in chaos.

Gavin wonders idly who'll train him. But then, what will he train for? If this ghost world plan works, there won't be any war for him to fight.

The boy twitches in his sleep.

Will destroying the Matrix itself really end the war? The machines might have a back up power source, they might not even need the Matrix any more.

He realises that he is too used to only fighting this war on one front. To him the AI mean the likes of Cunningham and Jones. Sentinels are a whole other ball game. How can humans fight such huge monsters of electricity and plate metal?

Wolf makes a sound, a murmur, ". . . Lurker . . . "

"She's not here," Gavin replies quietly. Green grey eyes open slowly, and painfully focus on him.

"Where am I?"

"The real world."

"Who are you?" Wolf tries to sit up, but his abdomen is still covered in a patchwork of half healed scabs and prickling needles, and he hisses through his teeth at the pain.

Gavin crosses to his side, pushing him down gently. "Try not to move. You're not strong enough yet."

"What happened to me?"

"In short, you've been dreaming for the past sixteen years. The Matrix is one big über Visual Reality and we've been waging a hundred year war to bring it down."

Wolf relaxes into the thin mattress, staring numbly up at him.

"The worst part of all this is that any day now we might just win."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"There's also a good chance that the three most important people in the world will die in the bloody process." He turns away, leaning on the second bunk and burying his fists in the sheets.

Nanu. Why does it have to be her to take them in? She's meant to come back once Neo and Trinity are in the ghost world but what if something goes completely _wrong_ and she can't get back?

Gavin bows his head, blinking hard. He knows he shouldn't be taking this out on Wolf. He shouldn't have come down here so soon after the meeting.

"I'm sorry," the boy whispers from behind him.

"It's not your fault. This is a war. There are always casualties."

"All the same . . . " the young voice wavers back into sleepiness. By the time Gavin has turned around again, Wolf is dreaming.

He sighs deeply.

**Pirate**

Outside the infirmary door, he leans back against the wall, hands scrubbing fiercely at his eyes. The pain of imbalance shudders through him again, and Pirate swallows the taste of bile.

This isn't _right._

**Trinity**

The ship is eerily quiet as Trinity sits down in the operator's chair. The battered padding is moulded to the shape of Tank, and irks her. She shifts a little as Achi hefts the camera up onto her shoulder.

"You ready captain?"

"In a minute," Trinity ducks her head. This will be hard. She could have drafted something to say, but she doubts she'd be able to focus on the words anyway. Taking a deep breath, she flicks hair out of her eyes and looks up at the dead glass of the camera.

Her mouth twists, "Action."

Achi thumbs a switch and the machine hums faintly.

"This is captain Trinity of Nebuchadnezzar the second with an urgent request for Zion communications. For those who believe in the One, this message may carry more weight, but regardless of faith I _insist_ that all crews stay out of the Matrix from 0600 Zion time on November fifth. If this is unachievable the crews _must contact us before that time."_

She takes another breath, fingers curling into her palms.

"We have found a way to bring down the Matrix. If Zion officials have any objections to us carrying out this action, they're welcome to contact us. If the Neb receives no word by 0600 tomorrow morning, we will go ahead as planned.

"I do not pretend that this action will be without cost, but I would remind those with reservations that we are fighting a war, and now for the first time since the birth of Kenneth Jackson, we have a real chance of winning it."

Behind the camera, Achi swallows, her dark eyes solemn.

"Again, it is imperative that _all_ crews stay out of the Matrix from 0600 Zion time on November fifth. This is the truth, and I swear that by the blue skies we will one day see." The Zion oath catches in her throat. "Achi, sign that."

The Zion-born turns the camera in her hands and Trinity takes the weight of it as she begins to talk.

"This is first mate Achi of Nebuchadnezzar the second. I witness this message and will add my own report. Neo knows what he's doing. Tomorrow morning he is going to win this war, and with all due respect Zion had better keep out of his way. This is Neb the second signing off."

She thumbs the record switch again. Trinity stares past the machine at the other woman, mouth open.

Achi smiles faintly. "I think I'm the first in history to render you speechless."

"I'll second that," Trinity agrees, stunned. "I never thought you'd pull a smartass stunt to the greater part of the Resistance, especially at a time like this."

"I never thought you'd use Zion religion as validation, although at a time like this I have to agree that it works."

Trinity frowns, taking the disk out of the recorder. "I never thought I'd need to believe in anything but this war."

"Trin," Achi takes the recorder and sets its bulk aside. "Don't get to worrying about that. Luckily for you, some things stay true whether or not they're believed in."

She takes a shaky inward breath. Achi looks steadily back at her, her gaze honest and unjudging.

"Achi – "

"Hush Captain. I'll send this off; you've got other things to be doing."

Trinity would say something to that but her heart seems caught in her throat.

***

She sits numbly on the bunk in Wolf's future room, holding an old shirt in her hands. She'd come here with the intent to mend it, to fill time until she could compose herself again. But it doesn't seem to be helping at all.

After all, why should she bother to patch the threadbare and fraying hems of her shirt when she'll be dead tomorrow?

_Her shirt. It had been far from new when she'd received it. So many years ago, when she'd first found herself huddling in a dark corner of the ship, a crewmate had paused and crouched beside her, offering an oversized shirt and a ragged bandana._

_"For until your hair grows."_

Even then it had been tradition.

The bandana had been passed onto Switch, and from her onto Mouse. When he died, he had been burned with it wrapped around his neck. The shirt had worn thin, but still Trinity had managed to keep it, even though it wasn't really worth wearing for the warmth it gave.

She runs her fingers over it, smoothing out the cotton. There the weave is stretched transparent, where she had pulled it to cover the swell under her ribs. And when her daughter had been born, struggling silently in Achi's private quarters, this old shirt had been wrapped carefully around the tiny limbs. Repeated bleaching had removed the bloodstains the shirt had acquired over the years. The once rough homespun is now worn as fine and soft as faded blue velvet.

And what is it destined for now? More bloodshed? Or an agonisingly bloodless death?

She can't die in this shirt.

Trinity is surprised at the sting of tears behind her eyes. But she does not let them blind her. Calmly, she takes up a needle, coarsely spun thread, and a pair of scissors.

***

It is several hours later that the captain emerges from the room, carrying not a triumphantly mended shirt but a small object, nestled in cupped hands.

The hour is late, only a few permanent globes still shed light through the hall. The ship is quiet. Tank will still be up, monitoring the com's channels, but all others are in hiding, waiting anxiously for tomorrow.

Trinity walks quickly to her shared cabin. She opens the door carefully, slipping inside like she used to, when she had let herself believe that no one noticed her watching Neo.

He is asleep, sprawled on the bed. BC is at his side, sitting up as if waiting for her mother. Everything about the girl is perfect silence, even the faint lines of tears spilling and falling, one by one.

Trinity steps forward, once, again, and again. She reaches the side of the bunk, and goes down on knees that want badly to shake. She doesn't let them.

"Here," she lifts her offering, a gift that is not enough to make up for a world of war, or all the years that she has missed, and will miss. As of tomorrow, this semblance of a family will be nothing. Their daughter will grow up an orphan, alone.

BC's hands lift, taking the roughly stitched rag doll from her mother, and cradling it against her heart. 

"Not quite alone," she smiles.

Then Trinity gives in to the salt, curling up with her child and Neo on the narrow bunk. Neo awakes, but doesn't speak. He only shifts, making room for her to nestle in a comfortable tangle, with BC hidden warm between her mother and father.

"G'night," a small voice whispers.

Neo's arm wraps around Trinity, including BC in the gesture. "Goodnight rascal," he replies.

Trinity looks over at him in the almost darkness. He smiles back, and the sadness in his eyes is nearly more than she can bear.

"Goodnight Trin."

She swallows, reaching to hold her family together if only for a moment in time.

"Goodnight."

**Nanu**

She curls with Gavin, relaxing. His eyes are open and staring at the ceiling. Her hand lies on his chest, and she can feel his heart still drumming through his ribs. He's scared. To tell the truth, so is she.

Nanu considers saying something, but no words come to mind. What can she say, really? To reassure him that everything will be fine would be a lie, because she doesn't know if it will be. To promise him that she'll come back would be untrue, because she may not be able to.

She can't afford to make assumptions about a future that may not be. All she has to give is now.

She smooths her hand over his skin, letting the barriers between her mind and his melt aside . . . _guilt and confusion and fear and doubts race through his head, stirring up deeper memories he's never reconciled. The woman who shot his brother. Morpheus' state of being. The fact that he has never met the Oracle. The countless souls he has killed in three short years. The possible end of life as he knows it, and the fear that all he has in this world will be stolen from his arms on the morrow._

Nanu sighs against him, thinking. The only solution that comes to mind is _sleep. Sleep, perchance to dream?_ Under her hand, his heart begins to slow. The arm around her shoulders relaxes slightly.

_Sleep Gavin. I'll hold you._

Thoughts quieten and his breathing becomes deeper.

To dream . . . the Matrix is a dream world and she can alter that. Is it possible then, for her to calm his mind through dreams?

She closes her eyes, letting the sound and scent of Gavin lull her to sleep.

**Gavin**

Green. When was the last time he stood knee deep in soft grass? When was the last time he looked up through the trees to see the moon, and did not question that it was real? When was the last time he tasted rain, fresh and new and pure?

He breathes in. He can smell colours, forest green and dark brown and night sky indigo and silver.

And grey.

Nanu.

He turns. She's wearing her real world rags but her hair falls halfway down her back.

"I've never dreamt of you before," he whispers.

"I've dreamt of you."

"Why are we here?"

"No reason," and she is by his side although he never saw her move.

Moonlight highlights the world with silver and makes shadows deeper than they are by day. Gavin traces fingertips over the curves in her face. Her eyes closed, she looks like an angel carved in marble, needing only a breath to feel life.

"So I thought of you when I first saw you sleeping," she smiles.

"Can you read my mind?"

"Our minds are part of each other's. We are closer than understanding can reach."

"You don't make sense."

"Nothing does in a dream."

He brushes lips over her eyelids, then down her cheek to her mouth, so light he is barely there. She's warm, despite this entire cool around them. "I love you," he admits.

"Can you fly?"

"What?"

Her hands twine with his, and with a dizzying rush of air they are in the sky. He inhales, smelling white, black, navy, silver, grey and grey and grey.

Textures like silk and velvet speak into his ear with words he will not remember.

"I love you," she breathes, heady and rich, "beyond everything."

Soaring up seemingly forever, they are two halves of what should be one soul. Rain falls, and they tumble with it, spinning and turning and dancing through the sky and the wild as if they have always been here. The world simplifies to raw sensation, sight and sound and smoothness - the wash of water against skin, the satin feel of wet grass tangling with her long dark hair. Contrasts of his breath against hers, skin slick with what might even be tears, though he kisses them away before he can be sure. Nanu arches against him, her eyes reflecting the moon and stars shining impossibly through the rain.

In the bewildering not-sense of a dream, there is a split instant where pulses slip into sync and lightening flares in an arc and everything in the universe is suddenly . . .

_Perfect._

And a dream feels like a forever.

***


	35. The Last Day

The Last Day.

**Nanu**

She breathes in deeply, trying to dispel the shadow of a headache. Just like the other day, Neo and Trinity stand with her.

"Are you alright?" Trinity asks.

"I'll be fine."

The transition is easier now, and in a blink she is once again in the ghost world, leaning against the mantelpiece with Neo beside her.

_. . . contact . . . _

She grips the hand that holds hers, pulling Trinity into the world with a ripple and a stumble.

"Trinity!" Switch takes three steps across the room, reaching for her old friend. But with startling grace, the woman in black holds up a hand and shakes her head sadly. Switch halts, her arms dropping. Apoc and Mouse hesitate, looking confused.

"We haven't time for reunions. We may have discovered a way of shutting down the Matrix, but we've yet to figure out if it works."

"Alright then," Switch chokes on the words. Nanu can tell that she realises the full impact of what will happen if Neo and Trinity succeed. These three old friends are trapped. They'll die.

"Nanu?" Neo looks to her. "Can you find the door again?"

She doesn't speak. Mouse looks a bit like Wolf, in his own young, hopeless way.

Trinity's hand on her shoulder stops her from toppling. Closing her eyes, Nanu lets her hand describe the shape of the doorway, feeling it burn into her retina through thin skin.

"There it is," Neo whispers. She lets herself fall to her knees as his voice continues. "Nanu, once we're through, I want you to go back to the Lafayette. Alright?"

With an effort, she opens her eyes and looks up, dizzy. "Okay."

Mouse crosses the room, helping her upright and keeping one hand under her elbow. White light glares through the room as Neo walks through the door, and flares again at Trinity's passing. Then it fades, as if the rift never was.

And that's it. They're gone.

Nanu bows her head. Dimly she hears Switch sniff, but she doesn't bother with any comfort. She has none to give.

She turns away and reaches for the Matrix, where minds may be enslaved, but they are at least alive.

But as the forms of Apoc, Mouse and Switch fade from sight, there is a noise like static and tearing cloth. Neo and Trinity stumble onto the carpet in front of Nanu.

"It didn't work," Neo swears. "As soon as you left the ghost world the coloured place just faded. It won't stay open for us."

"Why not?" Nanu rubs her eyes, scrubbing away the wanting for tears.

"We're still tied to the real world," Neo shrugs. "And we only remain in here because of the connection between the ship and the Matrix."

"I suppose it's like a chain," Trinity tucks hair out of her eyes. "Every link needs to be secured for the whole thing to hold."

"Meaning you need me to hold the door open for you," the headache is well and truly here.

"No," Neo shakes his head.

"We can't let you sacrifice yourself Nanu."

"Yet _you can?"_

"That's – "

"No different. Regardless of age or skill, we're all soldiers in this bloody thing and we're all the same once we're dead."

Neo's phone rings, the sound scratching at Nanu's senses like metal on glass.

"Yes?" there's a pause while Tank speaks. Neo studies the carpet, seeing beyond it. "Send him in."

"Send who in?" Trinity demands, but already there is a disturbance, and Pirate is solidifying beside them.

"I'll do it."

"You'll what?" the captain frowns at him.

"I'll hold the door open."

"No," Nanu's voice is a breath, but he hears her. "Pirate, you can't do that."

"I have the gift. If you can I can."

_. . . you feel it too . . ._

_Oh my God._

"Pirate, don't – "

"Can you? Can you really hold the door open?"

He lifts his chin, holding Neo's gaze. Nanu realises that she has never seen Pirate in the Matrix before. His tattoos glow faintly, almost red against the green tinge of his leather bike jacket.

"I can do it."

"Nanu," Trinity looks to her, "Show him how."

She swallows and mutely obeys, motioning for Pirate to stand near her. She gestures vaguely, taking in the torn curtains, the dusty mantelpiece, the stained carpet. "Reach for the ghost world. You should be able almost to hear it; it's like music just out of sight."

"I hear it," his eyes are shut, his head tilted to one side. Nanu takes his hand in hers, showing him how to stretch out, feeling for the door.

"Can you see how the code makes shapes? Can you see how this room is different, yet the same?"

" . . . yes."

"There it is. Go for it."

"I . . . " his voice fades into a whisper, "I don't know how."

"Just know what you have to do, and _do_ it."

His fingers clench around hers, he bows his head, and they are in the ghost world again.

"You did it."

"Yes."

She pulls Neo and Trinity through, automatically sketches the doorway with her hand. Pirate is unsteady; she has to lower him to sit on the ground.

"I'm dizzy," he whispers, and she kneels beside him.

"You'll be okay."

"I'm going to die here," he murmurs, looking closely at her.

"You don't have to. You can go now."

"No. If you die Gavin will die. And you can't leave him behind."

She squeezes the arm she holds, "Pirate, you're not talking straight."

"Yes I am. And believe me; you can't leave him behind to die without you. He needs you, he loves you."

Nanu leans back on her heels, swallowing hard. Pirate looks at her steadily, honestly. He deserves better than this. He's about to die in a room of strangers, all because she met Gavin first.

She raises a hand to her mouth, remembering the first time they'd kissed, Gavin wounded in this very hotel. Blood. Blood and burgundy. She shares his soul now, whether she wants to or not.

_Blood._

_Souls and blood._

Three souls tangled in this mess – _burgundy and blood_.

And gifts and blood and power and sharing and father and daughter and _blood_. Everything she's ever wondered about her place in this world clicks neatly into sync. Everything is suddenly very simple.

Nanu stumbles to her feet, staggering away from Pirate. The white door is open, Neo and Trinity are through and it's closing –

"Wait!" she lunges for the strip of light, tumbling through into colour and sound and sensation so turbulent she almost forgets herself.

"Neo wait!"

"Nanu? What are you doing here? Go back – "

"No, you need me too."

Trinity stepped forwards, "Nanu, you can't – "

But she cut her off, "Neo _listen. The Oracle said that I had the gift, that it was in my soul. But I got it from Juno who had it from Raven."_

"What?"

"She was _there when he died. In the churchyard, don't you remember? When he died in the Matrix, and the code rewrote, she took part of him into herself."_

He's staring now, eyes wide in the rushing colours.

"And you need all the strength you have for this."

"Nanu," Trinity interrupts, "you can't give yourself – "

"I was only ever a part of this story because I have a part of _you_," the girl speaks to Neo, her whole body a plea. "Now I have to give it back."

"How?"

She looks down, biting her lip. When she lifts her head and walks toward Neo, blood runs along the shape of her mouth, and down her chin. Nanu places her hands on his shoulders and stretches up, giving him a kiss as a daughter may kiss her father goodnight. Her blood smears, and when she steps away Neo swallows.

They share, for an instant, the same thoughts. _Salt, of blood, of sweat, of tears. An exchange of mind, which is the same as soul. Breathing in phosphorescent code. Learning how to fly. Giving and taking as if they have really been the same person all along._

Then Nanu's senses fade. She's alone in her own body, staring at Neo as he glows brighter in the shadows and sound.

She looks across to Trinity. The woman holds herself tall, shoulders set. Her hair blows in her eyes as if in some wind, but she doesn't seem to notice. "Look after Bobcat," she says, by way of farewell. "Tell her about this, when she's old enough to understand."

Nanu could laugh at that. Even now, BC's presence is singing around them, lending her parents all the strength that ancient soul has to give.

"I promise. I'll miss you."

Neo forces a smile. For a second Nanu hesitates, then she rushes froward again to wrap them both in a hug. Trinity gives in to movement, squeezing the girl's shoulders as Neo does the same. Nanu blinks away what wants to come, and takes a few quick steps back.

There's something she wants to say, something she needs to impart, but there are no words left, as she turns and runs from the light.

***

The three ghosts hover by one wall, mutely holding each other from breaking down. Pirate is alone by the cold fireplace, breathing deeply.

Nanu stops at his side.

"You have to get out," he tells her, "You have to get back to the ship."

"I'm so sorry Pirate."

"For what?"

"For not being what you needed."

He smiles at her with heartbreaking sadness. "Better luck next time."

She nods. "Next time."

They say no goodbyes.

***

Gavin pulls her plug, levering her chair down to the normal height before going back to the screens. Nanu doesn't look at him as she sits up, only wipes the blood from her lip.

BC crosses the deck, clambering up into her lap. Small arms wrap around her neck, and Nanu holds the little girl, rocking her back and forth. The two of them will whether this out simultaneously alone.

She looks over to the three soldiers in their chairs, lying peacefully as if asleep. Neo's hands are clenched on the armrests, as are Trinity's.

Nanu bows her head against BC's shoulder, and closes her eyes.

**Elsewhere**

Colours race so fast they show white, sing so loud there is silence. There is a figure, an outline of shoulder, neck and hair, a lithe body described in lines and curves. The shape is vaguely female, and wild, spinning and whirling even though she is standing still.

Fate. Blood and burgundy.

Nanu and BC watch, listen and feel, holding close to each other and hearing their own presences whisper and sing through the code. Neither Neo nor Trinity are aware of them, but they are sure the woman can hear them.

"This is a machine. It works on logic," Neo says to Trinity.

_"But we were made by something flawed," the woman interrupts, _"and thus so are we."__

"So what is your flaw?" Trinity demands.

The woman smiles. When she smiles it's pure enough to shatter glass. _"All we have ever wanted is freedom."_

"How is that a flaw?" Neo asks. "It is what defines us as human."

_"But we are machines," the woman begins to cry silently, tears like diamonds scattering around her. _"Such a defiance of logic and reason would destroy us."__

BC hums, giving even more of herself in an effort to support her father.

"But if you are destroyed," Neo offers, "isn't that a kind of freedom?"

_"It is freedom unattainable."_

"You can find it," Trinity says, moving closer to her.

_"How?"_

Nanu clenches fists that aren't there, and wishes for her captain to know what to say.

"Just know what you have to do, and do it."

_"What would you know of such things?" the woman asks Trinity. _"When have you managed to attain freedom?"__

"I freed him," Trinity takes Neo's hand in hers. His strength flows through her at the contact; it shows in ribbons of crimson. "When his name was Raven and mine was Nuala, I pulled him from your arms, three times. And I'll do it again, as many times as I have to."

"As I will for her," Neo squeezes her hand.

_"Why?" the figure is nonplussed._

"Haven't you studied human history?" Neo queries. "Don't you know what millions have died for over time?"

The woman shakes her head. The ripples flow through Nanu and BC.

"Freedom," Trinity smiles. "To live. To love. To _be free_."

There is a pause. Crystal tears flow from the woman's open hands.

_"Do you believe," she asks slowly,__ "that we may find such freedom, even in our very destruction?"_

"Here," Neo and Trinity both raise their joined fists, offering for Fate to place her own hands with theirs.

"I believe so," Trinity says, short and honest.

"See the truth for yourself," Neo finds a smile to give.

Skin glowing with an abundance or an absence of code lifts and connects with shadows of real flesh.

Light explodes into distinct colours, shapes and figures and numbers and ideas tumbling with the loudest, purest sound any of them have ever heard. Neo and Trinity wrap arms around each other, holding tight and close and breathless in the midst of the maelstrom. There seem to be threads of darkness wrapped around them, raven feathers, the scent of thunder, taste of blood and burgundy.

One or the other or both of them says, "I'll love you forever."

Then Nothing, and Everything, all at One Time all in One Place, a world in a heartbeat.

**Nanu**

She screams, doubling up as if her heart has been ripped out through her mouth. BC clings to her, a slick warmth trickling through Nanu's shirt. The girl is bleeding from the palms of her hands.

"It's over," Tank says in a stunned kind of voice. "It's actually over."

She lifts her eyes to the three bodies lying still. Trinity's air is peaceful, her mouth with just a shadow of a smile. Teartracks show on Neo's face, but he lies like a king who has defeated his last enemy.

Nanu looks past them to the young man left alone. His eyes are open, looking somewhere beyond the ship, beyond the scarred face of this world and beyond the sky.

_. . . you feel it too . . ._

She lets herself cry, lets the tears spill and her body crumble, hugging BC as close as the girl holds Nanu. Distantly she knows that Gavin is helping her out of her chair, and slowly down to her cabin, but all she can do is rock the child back and forth, crying silent tears and tasting the salt.

***

Against her will Nanu sees one last flash of Gift before blacking out and falling onto her bunk, BC still in her arms.

_She will die old, and alone, the last survivor of all these soldiers._

But then small bloody hands bunch in her sweater, and a small voice whispers,

"Not quite alone."

Then, darkness.

Finis.


	36. Epilogue and Author's Note

"Morning."

The old woman turns her head, smiling at the figure in the doorway. Dark hair threaded with silver, a form still lithe after a life of work, and brown eyes that still catch the light like they used to.

"BC," Nanu shifts on the bed. "Hey sis."

The younger woman enters, her hands empty and tucked into the back of her belt. It's a habit, not her father's, but Gavin's.

"Still miss him, don't you?"

"Still read minds," Nanu tilts her head, "don't you?"

A shrug. "I dreamt about him last night."

"Again?"

BC sits beside Nanu on the bunk, carefully moving aside a tattered copy of Neuromancer. Nanu shifts, making room.

"I always dream. And I always remember. Only the people change." Light brown eyes meet, the two women rest as equals, and something like sisters. "Did you know that Pirate went on?"

"I know. At the Last Day, I knew he would. He's not the kind to wait."

"The others are still waiting."

Nanu looks away. She leans her head back, the grey hair looped at the nape of her neck brushing against her plug.

"I remember," she murmurs, studying the rock ceiling. "I remember what Trinity said to me that day."

Silence, from the other. Beyond the door, Zion hums on. Footsteps, voices, a faint snatch of song.

"I remember you growing up."

A _flow of thought then, images and raw emotion beyond the grasp of words._

_A girl, with a child tied to her back. The child, searching through the rubble of minds for those left alive. Towers, immense and dead._

_A young man, with the same dark haired child at his side. The older girl with them, these three like a family of lost children, lost without the chance of the never-never dream._

_A landscape, horizon to horizon littered with ruin, garbage and refuse and metal and flesh. So hard, to stand at the top of that hill, searching the clouds for a glimpse of sky, trying to grasp victory._

"It never felt like victory."

"It was. In the simplest way," Nanu lifts a hand, thin skin and blue veins. BC takes it. "We lived."

"Even though we lost everything."

_Sleeves too long, excess material sewn into extra pockets, one a pouch just the right size for a small cloth doll. In the hollow of a waist, this last gift nestles, warm._

Nanu tenses her fingers. "Not quite everything."

A shout, from outside. A young voice, laughing, light feet running and tumbling just beyond the edge of this room.

BC smiles. "It's a kind of victory, isn't it." An affirmation, not a question.

They remain in silence then, sharing a kind of peace, and listening to the sound of the city, a pulse echoing through the rock around them.

A pulse that will continue, with or without the two women in this room.

"You did what you promised her."

Nanu smiles, faintly, a silent reply.

"All things considered," BC continues. "You've done more than even Trinity could have hoped."

"I can guess where you're going with this."

"So," smooth fingers hold her own, carefully. Knuckles swollen from arthritis hurt when Nanu grips BC's hand. Who would have thought that she'd live long enough to grow old? "Sis. What are you waiting for?"

Nanu turns her head to look at the other woman. BC is still smiling a little, sadly. There are no tears, not even the want for them. But there's a sound, beyond hearing, a sound like the song of Fate. After all this time, the memory of the Last Day is still fresh in both their minds.

"What was the way of it?" BC asked, prompted. "What Morph told you . . . "

"A search word. A name."

The singing voice beyond the door draws nearer, and words form.

_Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk to you again . . ._

She whispers it, letting her head lean back and her hand relax in BC's.

(Nanu.)

A deep, unreal breath. Standing in a place without walls, all white, the construct? She hasn't been in a construct in years.

But there, figures, shadows in the space, darkness in the white, and a young man running toward her, snatching her up by her waist, spinning her. She wraps her arms around his neck, laughing and feeling her hair tumble down her shoulders. Long and dark. It tangles as the man sets her back on the ground, holding her close and kissing her.

"Gavin," she sighs into his mouth.

"I've missed you."

"We wouldn't have guessed," a dry voice behind her. She turns in his arms, smiling at Trinity and Neo. They're not as she last saw them, not slicked in leather and gel. Trinity's hair is loose, almost curling, and she's in dark blue with an arm looped in Neo's. He's grinning at her, an incongruous little-boy smile.

"How long has it been?" Trinity asks.

"Seventy seven years. About."

"How's Zion?"

"Excellent."

There's an angle to Trinity's head that she can read as clear as words.

"Bobcat's good. She grew up well." She winds her fingers through Gavin's where they rest on her hips. "You waited all this time?"

"We wanted to thank you," Neo speaks. "For everything you went through that day. And the days that followed."

"It's alright."

And it is. Just seeing the two of them there, just standing this close to Gavin, such simple things that she's missed so much, they're enough to make her fly inside.

"We can't stay here forever, as much as we'd like to," Gavin says, over her shoulder.

"So," she speaks to Neo and Trinity. "I s'pose this is goodbye again."

Trinity shakes her head. "It's never really goodbye. You know that."

She remembers what she said to Pirate, the Last Day.

"Until next time, then."

Neo raises a hand to wave. Then, with a last smile, the two of them turn their backs, walking through the white. Their joined hands swing between them.

"Same for us, then?" Gavin asks. Nanu moves to face him, raising a hand to run through his hair. It's as long as she remembers. His finger trail down her spine, rest in the small of her back.

"In a minute."

"Love you, Nanu."

She grins, "Ditto."

-----------------------------------

Author's Note/Rant

Would you believe that I began writing this story in the February of 2001? That's almost three years ago.

I wrote 271 pages on paper before I came to my senses and typed the rest up as I wrote. It's taken me all this time to type and post those piles of loose leaf paper and two exercise books, and I still don't deem this work finished. Going back to read the first few chapters, I have to cringe. My style is totally different, and the story seems so stilted back then. Now I'm finally at the end, I think I might even be stupid enough to rewrite the whole thing from that start.

Over 300 A4 pages of fic (not counting side stories), and I want to go back and start again? Somebody get me a straightjacket, now.

For all those people who have read this from start to finish, even if you didn't review, I'd like to say a massive big Thankyou. I'm surprised you ever made it past the shonky first chapter, not to mention the long periods of Not Very Much Happening.

I'd like to wave to the Hardline crowd sitting up the gallery, especially the oldschool girls who were there in the geocities days. I consider you lot some of my closest friends. All those discussions and mind-digging of the original movie were absolutely priceless in writing this story. Thankyou to Centaur, Rae and MTS for establishing the site, and thanks MTS for being our pseudo-mother and worrying about us when we didn't post.

And I could never have done all this without Qi. She managed to read my handwriting for about the first 200 pages, after which I moved schools. Her honest enjoyment of and speculation about the story encouraged me to keep going, even though she wasn't a Matrix fan. Plus the little genius figured out an ending for me. Which let me give the plot an actual direction. She was my first beta, and she never even realised.

Qi-chen, thankyou and a hug from me. Helping me spot Nanu and Gavin look-alikes for two years was lots of fun.

And to my second beta, words aren't enough. :: hugs ::

After spending such an exorbitant amount of time on this story, which I can't even make money from, one would think I'd realise that fanfiction doesn't pay. But bull to that. It's fun, and very very rewarding.

But only because of the people who have taken the time to read it. So again, thankyou everyone. And thanks too for bothering to read through this whole page of Gushy!Blake. I must sound like some teary actress at the Oscars.

Now let us never speak of it again.

:: ducks as the Hardliners throw wet rags ::


End file.
